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(502a) Roman Republic, L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, 90 B.C.Silver denarius, S 235, Calpurnia 11, Crawford 340/1, Syd 663a, VF, rainbow toning, Rome mint, 3.772g, 18.5mm, 180o, 90 B.C. obverse: laureate head of Apollo right, scorpion behind; Reverse naked horseman galloping right holding palm, L PISO FRVGI and control number CXI below; ex-CNA XV 6/5/91, #443. Ex FORVM.
A portion of the following text is a passage taken from the excellent article “The Calpurnii and Roman Family History: An Analysis of the Piso Frugi Coin in the Joel Handshu Collection at the College of Charleston,” by Chance W. Cook:
In the Roman world, particularly prior to the inception of the principate, moneyers were allotted a high degree of latitude to mint their coins as they saw fit. The tres viri monetales, the three men in charge of minting coins, who served one-year terms, often emblazoned their coins with an incredible variety of images and inscriptions reflecting the grandeur, history, and religion of Rome. Yet also prominent are references to personal or familial accomplishments; in this manner coins were also a means by which the tres viri monetales could honor their forbearers. Most obvious from an analysis of the Piso Frugi denarius is the respect and admiration that Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, who minted the coin, had for his ancestors. For the images he selected for his dies relate directly to the lofty deeds performed by his Calpurnii forbearers in the century prior to his term as moneyer. The Calpurnii were present at many of the watershed events in the late Republic and had long distinguished themselves in serving the state, becoming an influential and well-respected family whose defense of traditional Roman values cannot be doubted.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, who was moneyer in 90 B.C., depicted Apollo on the obverse and the galloping horseman on the reverse, as does his son Gaius. However, all of L. Piso Frugi’s coins have lettering similar to “L-PISO-FRVGI” on the reverse, quite disparate from his son Gaius’ derivations of “C-PISO-L-F-FRV.”
Moreover, C. Piso Frugi coins are noted as possessing “superior workmanship” to those produced by L. Piso Frugi.
The Frugi cognomen, which became hereditary, was first given to L. Calpurnius Piso, consul in 133 B.C., for his integrity and overall moral virtue. Cicero is noted as saying that frugal men possessed the three cardinal Stoic virtues of bravery, justice, and wisdom; indeed in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, a synonym of frugalitas is bonus, generically meaning “good” but also implying virtuous behavior. Gary Forsythe notes that Cicero would sometimes invoke L. Calpurnius Piso’s name at the beginning of speeches as “a paragon of moral rectitude” for his audience.
L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi’s inclusion of the laureled head of Apollo, essentially the same obverse die used by his son Gaius (c. 67 B.C.), was due to his family’s important role in the establishment of the Ludi Apollinares, the Games of Apollo, which were first instituted in 212 B.C. at the height of Hannibal’s invasion of Italy during the Second Punic War. By that time, Hannibal had crushed Roman armies at Cannae, seized Tarentum and was invading Campania.
Games had been used throughout Roman history as a means of allaying the fears
of the populace and distracting them from issues at hand; the Ludi Apollinares were no different. Forsythe follows the traditional interpretation that in 211 B.C., when C. Calpurnius Piso was praetor, he became the chief magistrate in Rome while both consuls were absent and the three other praetors were sent on military expeditions against Hannibal.
At this juncture, he put forth a motion in the Senate to make the Ludi Apollinares a yearly event, which was passed; the Ludi Apollinares did indeed become an important festival, eventually spanning eight days in the later Republic. However, this interpretation is debatable; H.H. Scullard suggests that the games were not made permanent until 208 B.C. after a severe plague prompted the Senate to make them a fixture on the calendar. The Senators believed Apollo would serve as a “healing god” for the people of Rome.
Nonetheless, the Calpurnii obviously believed their ancestor had played an integral role in the establishment of the Ludi Apollinares and thus prominently displayed
the head or bust of Apollo on the obverse of the coins they minted.
The meaning of the galloping horseman found on the reverse of the L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi coin is more complicated. It is possible that this is yet another reference to the Ludi Apollinares. Chariot races in the Circus Maximus were a major component of the games, along with animal hunts and theatrical performances.
A more intriguing possibility is that the horseman is a reference to C. Calpurnius Piso, son of the Calpurnius Piso who is said to have founded the Ludi Apollinares. This C. Calpurnius Piso was given a military command in 186 B.C. to quell a revolt in Spain. He was victorious, restoring order to the province and also gaining significant wealth in the process.
Upon his return to Rome in 184, he was granted a triumph by the Senate and eventually erected an arch on the Capitoline Hill celebrating his victory. Of course
the arch prominently displayed the Calpurnius name. Piso, however, was not an infantry commander; he led the cavalry.
The difficulty in accepting C. Calpurnius Piso’s victory in Spain as the impetus for the galloping horseman image is that not all of C. Piso Frugi’s coins depict the horseman or cavalryman carrying the palm, which is a symbol of victory. One is inclined to believe that the victory palm would be prominent in all of the coins minted by C. Piso Frugi (the son of L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi) if it indeed signified the great triumph of C. Calpurnius Piso in 186 B.C. Yet the palm’s appearance is clearly not a direct reference to military feats of C. Piso Frugi’s day. As noted, it is accepted that his coins were minted in 67 B.C.; in that year, the major victory by Roman forces was Pompey’s swift defeat of the pirates throughout the Mediterranean.
Chrestomathy: Annual Review of Undergraduate Research at the College of Charleston. Volume 1, 2002: pp. 1-10© 2002 by the College of Charleston, Charleston SC 29424, USA.All rights to be retained by the author.
http://www.cofc.edu/chrestomathy/vol1/cook.pdf
There are six (debatably seven) prominent Romans who have been known to posterity as Lucius Calpurnius Piso:
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi: (d. 261 A.D.) a Roman usurper, whose existence is
questionable, based on the unreliable Historia Augusta.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus: deputy Roman Emperor, 10 January 69 to15 January
69, appointed by Galba.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso: Consul in 27 A.D.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso: Consul in 1 B.C., augur
Lucius Calpurnius Piso: Consul in 15 B.C., pontifex
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus: Consul in 58 B.C. (the uncle of Julius Caesar)
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi: Moneyer in 90 B.C. (our man)
All but one (or two--if you believe in the existence of "Frugi the usurper" ca. 261 A.D.) of these gentlemen lack the Frugi cognomen, indicating they are not from the same direct lineage as our moneyer, though all are Calpurnii.
Calpurnius Piso Frugi's massive issue was intended to support the war against the Marsic Confederation. The type has numerous variations and control marks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Calpurnius_Piso
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/indexfrm.asp?vpar=55&pos=0
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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0968 Hadrian, Cistophorus BITHYNIA Koinon of Bithynia mint, TempleReference.
RPC III, 968; RIC II 461b; Metcalf, Cistophori, type B1; RSC 240b; Pinder 100
Issue Reverse legend includes COM BIT
Obv. IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P
Laureate head right
Rev. COM - BIT (in field), ROM S P AVG (in entablature)
Octastyle temple on podium of three steps
10.52 gr
27 mm
6 h
Note.
The temple depicted is that of Roma and Augustus erected by the koinon of Bithynia at Nicomedia, of which no archaeological remains have been discovered.
Cistophori were produced in the name of the Commune Bithyniae only once, under Hadrian. The inscription on the frieze, reconstructed as ROM(ae) S(enatui) P(opulo) AVG(usto) and translated as "To Rome, the Senate, the People, and Augustus" tentatively identifies the building as a temple of Rome and Augustus at Nicomedia. No archaeological remains of this structure have as yet been found, and reconstructions of it are based entirely on the second century numismatic evidence. Both Tacitus and Dio Cassius report that in 19 BC Augustus did authorize the construction of a temple to Rome and himself at Pergamum, an event commemorated on his cistophori there. No such evidence for a temple at Nicomedia occurs earlier than this cistophorus.okidoki
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0969 Hadrian, Cistophorus BITHYNIA Koinon of Bithynia mint, TempleReference.
RPC III, 969; RIC II 461b; Metcalf Metcalf B2
Issue Reverse legend includes COM BIT
Obv. IMP CAES TRA HADRIANO AVG P P
Laureate head right
Rev. COM - BIT (in field), ROM S P AVG (in entablature)
Octastyle temple on podium of three steps; three pellets in pediment
10.52 gr
27 mm
6h
Note.
The temple depicted is that of Roma and Augustus erected by the koinon of Bithynia at Nicomedia, of which no archaeological remains have been discovered.
Cistophori were produced in the name of the Commune Bithyniae only once, under Hadrian. The inscription on the frieze, reconstructed as ROM(ae) S(enatui) P(opulo) AVG(usto) and translated as "To Rome, the Senate, the People, and Augustus" tentatively identifies the building as a temple of Rome and Augustus at Nicomedia. No archaeological remains of this structure have as yet been found, and reconstructions of it are based entirely on the second century numismatic evidence. Both Tacitus and Dio Cassius report that in 19 BC Augustus did authorize the construction of a temple to Rome and himself at Pergamum, an event commemorated on his cistophori there. No such evidence for a temple at Nicomedia occurs earlier than this cistophorus.okidoki
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1216 - 1272, Henry III, AR Penny, Struck 1217 - 1242 at London, England (Short Cross Issue)Obverse: HENRICVS REX around central circle enclosing a crowned, draped and bearded facing bust of Henry III holding a sceptre tipped with a cross pommee in his right hand.
Reverse: + GIFFREI ON LVND. Voided short cross dividing legend into quarters, crosslets in each quarter of inner circle. Cross pattée in legend. Moneyer: Giffrei, cognate with the modern English name of Geoffrey.
Issue type 7c, distinguished by the degraded portrait and large lettering.
Diameter: 19mm | Weight: 1.1gms | Die Axis: 4h
SPINK: 1356C
HENRY III AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Henry III was the eldest son of King John and came to the throne at the age of nine. He was king of England from 1216 until his death in 1272, ruling longer than any other English monarch until the reign of George III.
Henry expressed a lifelong interest in architecture and much of what constitutes the Tower of London today is a result of Henry's work, he added several towers and a curtain wall to expand the White Tower beginning in 1238. Westminster Abbey however, is considered to be Henry's greatest building work. The project began in 1245, when Henry sent his architect Henry de Reynes to visit the French cities of Rheims, Chartres, Bourges and Amiens and Paris' royal chapel Sainte-Chapelle to learn the Gothic technique that he much admired.
The Westminster Abbey that stood previously on the site had been erected by Edward the Confessor in 1042. Edward the Confessor was a hero of Henry's, and he probably named his son (the future Edward I) after him. The foundations and crypt are still those of Edward the Confessor's Abbey, but everything above ground today is the building begun by Henry III. The tomb of Edward the Confessor was moved to a new position of honour in 1269 at the very centre of the new abbey, and when Henry III died in 1272 he was buried beside Edward's shrine in the exact position the bones of his hero had lain for 200 years.
*Alex
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1249 - 1286, Alexander III, AR Penny, Struck 1280 - 1286 at Roxburgh, ScotlandObverse: + ALEXANDER DEI GRA . Crowned head of Alexander III facing left within circle of pellets; sceptre topped with fleur-de-lis before. Cross potent in legend.
Reverse: REX SCOTORVM +. Long cross pattée dividing legend into quarters, with three pierced mullets of six points and one mullet of seven points in quarters of inner circle. The total of 25 points is indicative of the mint of Roxburgh.
Class Mb with unbarred "A", wider portrait and cross potent mintmark in legend.
Roxburgh only accounts for some 9% of Alexander's second coinage so issues from this mint are quite rare.
Diameter: 18mm | Weight: 1.0gm | Die Axis: 3h
SPINK: 5054
Alexander III's reign saw the introduction of the round halfpenny and farthing to Scottish medieval coinage.
Following the English recoinage of Edward I in 1279, Alexander introduced his second coinage which began in 1280 and ended when he died in 1286. This coin was therefore struck between those dates.
Alexander III was born at Roxburgh, he came to the throne when he was just 7 years old following the death of his father, Alexander II.
At the age of ten, in 1251, Alexander married Margaret, daughter of Henry III of England. Henry seized the opportunity to demand from his son-in-law homage from the Scottish kingdom. Alexander did not comply but In 1255, after a meeting between the English and Scottish kings at Kelso, he was compelled to consent to the creation of a regency representative of both monarchs.
The early years of Alexander III's reign were dominated by a power struggle between the two factions, but when he reached the age of 21 he was able to rule in his own right. His first action was to claim control of the Western Isles which were then under the domination of Norway. The Norwegian King Haakon rejected the claim, and in 1263, responded with a formidable invasion force which sailed around the west coast of Scotland and halted off the Isle of Arran. Alexander craftily delayed negotiations until the autumn storms began which resulted in the Norwegian ships being greatly damaged. Haakon, losing patience, attacked the Scots at Largs, but the battle proved indecisive and his position became hopeless. The Norwegians set sail for home but Haakon died en route, on Orkney, towards the end of the year. In 1266, at the Treaty of Perth, Norway formally ceded the Western Isles and the Isle of Man to Scotland in return for a monetary payment.
Alexander, when only 44 years old, met his end on the night of 19th March 1286. After entertaining guests at Edinburgh Castle he decided that night that he would return home to his wife near Kinghorn. His aides advised against it because there was a storm and the party would have to travel in darkness for many miles along a treacherous coastal path. Alexander was determined to travel anyway and ignored his advisors. It is not clear what happened, but it seems he got separated from the rest of his group and his horse lost its footing in the dark. The following day Alexander's body, and that of his horse, was found on the shore at the foot of the cliffs, the King's neck was broken. In 1886, a monument to him was erected in Kinghorn, on the side of the cliffs, at the approximate location of Alexander's death.
Alexander had no heirs, which ultimately led to a war with England that lasted almost thirty years.
*Alex
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1401a, St. Helena, Augusta 8 November 324 - 328 to 330 A.D., mother of Constantine the GreatBronze AE 3, RIC 148, VF, Alexandria mint, 3.243g, 19.4mm, 165o, 327 - 328 A.D. Obverse: FL HELENA AVGVSTA, diademed and mantled bust right wearing double necklace; Reverse: SECVRITAS REIPVBLICE, Securitas holding branch downward in right and lifting fold of robe in left, wreath left, I right, SMAL in exergue; rare.
The mother of Constantine the Great, born about the middle of the third century, possibly in Drepanum (later known as Helenopolis) on the Nicomedian Gulf; died about 330. She was of humble parentage; St. Ambrose, in his "Oratio de obitu Theodosii", referred to her as a stabularia, or inn-keeper. Nevertheless, she became the lawful wife of Constantius Chlorus. Her first and only son, Constantine, was born in Naissus in Upper Moesia, in the year 274. The statement made by English chroniclers of the Middle Ages, according to which Helena was supposed to have been the daughter of a British prince, is entirely without historical foundation. It may arise from the misinterpretation of a term used in the fourth chapter of the panegyric on Constantine's marriage with Fausta, that Constantine, oriendo (i. e., "by his beginnings," "from the outset") had honoured Britain, which was taken as an allusion to his birth, whereas the reference was really to the beginning of his reign.
On the death of Constantius Chlorus, in 308, Constantine, who succeeded him, summoned his mother to the imperial court, conferred on her the title of Augusta, ordered that all honour should be paid her as the mother of the sovereign, and had coins struck bearing her effigy. Her son's influence caused her to embrace Christianity after his victory over Maxentius. This is directly attested by Eusebius (Vita Constantini, III, xlvii): "She (his mother) became under his (Constantine's) influence such a devout servant of God, that one might believe her to have been from her very childhood a disciple of the Redeemer of mankind". It is also clear from the declaration of the contemporary historian of the Church that Helena, from the time of her conversion had an earnestly Christian life and by her influence and liberality favoured the wider spread of Christianity. Tradition links her name with the building of Christian churches in the cities of the West, where the imperial court resided, notably at Rome and Trier, and there is no reason for rejecting this tradition, for we know positively through Eusebius that Helena erected churches on the hallowed spots of Palestine. Despite her advanced age she undertook a journey to Palestine when Constantine, through his victory over Licinius, had become sole master of the Roman Empire, subsequently, therefore, to the year 324. It was in Palestine, as we learn from Eusebius (loc. cit., xlii), that she had resolved to bring to God, the King of kings, the homage and tribute of her devotion. She lavished on that land her bounties and good deeds, she "explored it with remarkable discernment", and "visited it with the care and solicitude of the emperor himself". Then, when she "had shown due veneration to the footsteps of the Saviour", she had two churches erected for the worship of God: one was raised in Bethlehem near the Grotto of the Nativity, the other on the Mount of the Ascension, near Jerusalem. She also embellished the sacred grotto with rich ornaments. This sojourn in Jerusalem proved the starting-point of the legend first recorded by Rufinus as to the discovery of the Cross of Christ.
Constantine I, in 327, improved Drepanum, his mother's native town, and decreed that it should be called Helenopolis, it is probable that the latter returned from Palestine to her son who was then residing in the Orient. Constantine was with her when she died, at the advanced age of eighty years or thereabouts (Eusebius, "Vita Const.", III, xlvi). This must have been about the year 330, for the last coins which are known to have been stamped with her name bore this date. Her body was brought to Constantinople and laid to rest in the imperial vault of the church of the Apostles. It is presumed that her remains were transferred in 849 to the Abbey of Hautvillers, in the French Archdiocese of Reims, as recorded by the monk Altmann in his "Translatio". She was revered as a saint, and the veneration spread, early in the ninth century, even to Western countries. Her feast falls on 18 August.
(See The Catholic Encyclopedia: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07202b.htm)
Cleisthenes
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177-192 AD - COMMODUS AR denarius - struck 191 ADobv: M COMM ANT P FEL AVG BRIT P P (laureate head right)
rev: APOL PAL P M TR P XVI COS VI (Apollo attired in the stola, holding the plectrum in the right hand and resting his left on the lyre, which surmounts on a short column)
ref: RIC III 218 (S), C.24 (8frcs)
mint: Rome
2.7gms, 17mm
Scarce
Apollini Palatino – this coin has reference to the temple, which Emperor Augustus erected at Rome, in honour of his guardian divinity in the Palatium. This temple was destroyed by fire during the reign of Julian the Apostate.berserker
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1794 AE Halfpenny Token. Chichester and Portsmouth, Sussex.Obverse: IOHN HOWARD F•R•S PHILANTHROPIST•. Bust of John Howard facing left.
Reverse: CHICHESTER AND PORTSMOUTH • / HALFPENNY; Arms of the town of Portsmouth; the sun and moon over a triple-towered castle, with the arms of Chichester above the gateway below the central tower, 1794 in exergue.
Edge: PAYABLE AT SHARPS PORTSMOUTH AND CHALDECOTTS CHICHESTER.
Diameter 29mm | Die Axis 12
Dalton & Hamer: 19
This token was probably manufactured by Peter Kempson in Birmingham and the dies were engraved by Thomas Wyon. The issuers of this token were John Chaldecott, a silversmith and cutler in Chichester and Thomas Sharp, a mercer in Portsmouth. Chaldecott was also a partner in the Chichester Old Bank and the Portsmouth, Portsea and Hampshire Bank. The two men were probably relations or close friends and they issued joint tokens in both Portsmouth and Chichester in the 18th century.
This token was struck in the name of John Howard who was born in Lower Clapton, London the son of a wealthy upholsterer. After the death of his father in 1742, he received a sizeable inheritance. Since he was wealthy and had no true vocation, in 1748 Howard left England and began to travel. However, while in Hanover he was captured by French privateers and imprisoned. It was this experience that made him consider the conditions in which prisoners were held.
In 1758 Howard returned to England and settled in Cardington, Bedfordshire. As a landowner he was philanthropic and enlightened, ensuring that his estate housing was of good standard and that the poor houses under his management were well run.
In 1773 he became High Sheriff of Bedfordshire. On his appointment he began a tour of English prisons which led to two Acts of Parliament in 1774, making gaolers salaried officers and setting standards of cleanliness.
In April 1777, Howard's sister died leaving him £15,000 and her house. He used this inheritance and the revenue from the sale of her house to further his work on prisons. In 1778 he was examined by the House of Commons, who were this time inquiring into prison ships, or “hulks”. Two days after giving evidence, he was again travelling Europe, beginning in the Dutch Republic.
His final journey took him into Eastern Europe and Russia. Whilst at Kherson, in what is now Ukraine, Howard contracted typhus on a prison visit and died. He was buried on the shores of the Black Sea in a walled field at Dophinovka (Stepanovka), Ukraine. Despite requesting a quiet funeral without pomp and ceremony, the event was elaborate and attended by the Prince of Moldovia.
Howard became the first civilian to be honoured with a statue in St Paul's Cathedral, London. A statue was also erected in Bedford, and another one in Kherson. John Howard's bust can still be seen as a feature in the architecture of a number of Victorian prisons across the UK.*Alex
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1794 AE Halfpenny Token. Chichester, SussexObverse: QUEEN ELIZABETH •. Three-quarter facing crowned bust of Queen Elizabeth I right, sceptre resting on her right shoulder.
Reverse: CHICHESTER HALFPENNY •. View of Chichester Cross; in exergue, 1794.
Edge: PAYABLE AT DALLY'S CHICHESTER + + + +.
Diameter 29mm | Die Axis 6
Dalton & Hamer: 15
This token was manufactured by Peter Kempson in Birmingham and the dies were engraved by Thomas Wyon. Little is known about the issuer of the token, seemingly to have been Dally and Son who were drapers in Chichester in the 18th century.
Chichester Cross is an elaborate perpendicular market cross standing at the intersection of the four principal streets in the centre of the city of Chichester, West Sussex. According to the inscription upon it, this cross was built by Edward Story, Bishop of Chichester from 1477 to 1503, but little is known for certain and the style and ornaments of the building suggest that it may date from the reign of Edward IV. It was apparently built so that the poor people should have somewhere to sell their wares, and as a meeting point. An earlier wooden cross had been erected on the same site by Bishop Rede (1369-1385). The stone cross, which underwent repairs during the reign of Charles II and again in 1746, still stands to this day.*Alex
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1795 AE Halfpenny, Portsmouth, Hampshire.Obverse: IOHN HOWARD F.R.S. PHILANTHROPIST •. Bust of John Howard facing left.
Reverse: RULE BRITANNIA. Britannia facing left, seated on globe, her right hand holding spear, her left arm holding laurel-branch and resting on shield at her side; in exergue, 1795.
Edge: “CURRENT EVERY WHERE ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦”
Diameter: 29mm
Dalton & Hamer: 57b
The dies for this token were likely engraved by Thomas Wyon and it was probably manufactured by Peter Kempson at his mint in Birmingham.
The Fitzwilliam Museum regards Liverpool as an alternative possibility for the place of issue.
These 18th century tokens are often generically referred to as “Conder” tokens, the name originating from James Conder, a linen draper from Tavern Street in Ipswich. Conder was an ardent collector of tokens and the author of the standard work on the subject until it was superseded by that of Atkins in 1892.
John Howard was born in Lower Clapton, London the son of a wealthy upholsterer. After the death of his father in 1742, he received a sizeable inheritance. Since he was wealthy and had no true vocation, in 1748 Howard left England and began to travel. However, while in Hanover he was captured by French privateers and imprisoned. It was this experience that made him consider the conditions in which prisoners were held.
In 1758 Howard returned to England and settled in Cardington, Bedfordshire. As a landowner he was philanthropic and enlightened, ensuring that his estate housing was of good standard and that the poor houses under his management were well run.
In 1773 he became High Sheriff of Bedfordshire. On his appointment he began a tour of English prisons which led to two Acts of Parliament in 1774, making gaolers salaried officers and setting standards of cleanliness.
In April 1777, Howard's sister died leaving him £15,000 and her house. He used this inheritance and the revenue from the sale of her house to further his work on prisons. In 1778 he was examined by the House of Commons, who were this time inquiring into prison ships, or “hulks”. Two days after giving evidence, he was again travelling Europe, beginning in the Dutch Republic.
His final journey took him into Eastern Europe and Russia. Whilst at Kherson, in what is now Ukraine, Howard contracted typhus on a prison visit and died. He was buried on the shores of the Black Sea in a walled field at Dophinovka (Stepanovka), Ukraine. Despite requesting a quiet funeral without pomp and ceremony, the event was elaborate and attended by the Prince of Moldovia.
Howard became the first civilian to be honoured with a statue in St Paul's Cathedral, London. A statue was also erected in Bedford, and another one in Kherson. John Howard's bust can still be seen as a feature in the architecture of a number of Victorian prisons across the UK.*Alex
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1811 "VINCIT AMOR" AE Halfpenny, Walthamstow, Essex.Obverse: VINCIT AMOR PATRIÆ 1811. Large laureate bust of Lucius Junius Brutus facing right.
Reverse: Britannia seated facing left holding olive branch and trident, a shield at her side, BCC bottom right of shield, all within an oak-wreath.
Edge: Grained.
Die damage, a common feature of these tokens, is visible at 10 o'clock on the obverse.
Diameter: 28mm.
Davis 17
The principal die engraver for this token was Thomas Wyon the elder (1767–1830). It was issued by the British Copper Company, a Welsh based company who, in 1808, erected copper rolling mill buildings at Walthamstow beside the River Lea. Walthamstow is now a suburb of north east London.
'Vincit amor patriæ' is a quotation from Virgil, though what Virgil wrote was vincet, in the future tense (Aeneid 6.823). The context is the visit of Aeneas to the underworld, where he sees a vision of the future of Rome, and the lines describe one of the first pair of consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus, who was said to have killed two of his sons who were plotting to restore the monarchy of the Tarquins. So it appears that Lucius Junius Brutus was chosen for this token as a hero for patriotism and freedom.*Alex
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1811 "VINCIT AMOR" AE Halfpenny, Walthamstow, Essex.Obverse: VINCIT AMOR PATRIÆ 1811. Small laureate bust of Lucius Junius Brutus facing right.
Reverse: Britannia seated facing left holding olive branch and trident, a shield at her side, BCC bottom right of shield, all within an oak-wreath.
Edge: Grained.
Diameter: 28mm.
Davis 17, Coxall type 10
The principal die engraver for this token was Thomas Wyon the elder (1767–1830). It was issued by the British Copper Company, a Welsh based company who, in 1808, erected copper rolling mill buildings at Walthamstow beside the River Lea. Walthamstow is now a suburb of north east London.
'Vincit amor patriæ' is a quotation from Virgil, though what Virgil wrote was vincet, in the future tense (Aeneid 6.823). The context is the visit of Aeneas to the underworld, where he sees a vision of the future of Rome, and the lines describe one of the first pair of consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus, who was said to have killed two of his sons who were plotting to restore the monarchy of the Tarquins. So it appears that Lucius Junius Brutus was chosen for this token as a hero for patriotism and freedom.*Alex
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1ag Marcus Junius BrutusTook his own life in 42 BC after being defeated at Philippi by Antony and Octavian
Denarius, issued as moneyer, 54 BC
Head of Liberty, right, LIBERTAS
Consul L. Junius Brutus between lictors, preceded by accensus, BRVTVS
Seaby, Junia 31
Plutarch wrote: Marcus Brutus was descended from that Junius Brutus to whom the ancient Romans erected a statue of brass in the capitol among the images of their kings with a drawn sword in his hand, in remembrance of his courage and resolution in expelling the Tarquins and destroying the monarchy. . . . But this Brutus, whose life we now write, having to the goodness of his disposition added the improvements of learning and the study of philosophy, and having stirred up his natural parts, of themselves grave and gentle, by applying himself to business and public affairs, seems to have been of a temper exactly framed for virtue; insomuch that they who were most his enemies upon account of his conspiracy against Caesar, if in that whole affair there was any honourable or generous part, referred it wholly to Brutus, and laid whatever was barbarous and cruel to the charge of Cassius, Brutus's connection and familiar friend, but not his equal in honesty and pureness of purpose. . . . In Latin, he had by exercise attained a sufficient skill to be able to make public addresses and to plead a cause; but in Greek, he must be noted for affecting the sententious and short Laconic way of speaking in sundry passages of his epistles. . . . And in all other things Brutus was partaker of Caesar's power as much as he desired: for he might, if he had pleased, have been the chief of all his friends, and had authority and command beyond them all, but Cassius and the company he met with him drew him off from Caesar. . . . Caesar snatching hold of the handle of the dagger, and crying out aloud in Latin, "Villain Casca, what do you?" he, calling in Greek to his brother, bade him come and help. And by this time, finding himself struck by a great many hands, and looking around about him to see if he could force his way out, when he saw Brutus with his dagger drawn against him, he let go Casca's hand, that he had hold of and covering his head with his robe, gave up his body to their blows. Blindado
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1ah Marcus AgrippaDied 12 BC
As, minted by Caligula.
Head left wearing rostral crownt, M AGRIPPA L F COS III
Neptune standing facing, head left, naked except for cloak draped behind him & over both arms, holding small dolphin in right hand & vertical trident in left, SC
RIC 58
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (c 63 BC–12 BC) was a close friend, and defence minister of the future emperor Augustus. He was responsible for many of his military victories, most notably Actium against the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII of Egypt. He was son-in-law to Augustus, maternal grandfather of the Emperor Caligula, father-in-law of the Emperors Tiberius and Claudius, and maternal great-grandfather of the Emperor Nero. He probably served in Caesar’s campaign of 46/45 BC against Pompey and Caesar regarded him highly enough to send him with Octavius in 45 BC to study at Apollonia. From then on Agrippa played a major part in Augustus’ career, as military commander and admiral, also undertaking major public works, and writing works on geography (following his survey of the Empire) and other subjects. He erected many fine buildings in Rome, including the original Pantheon on the Campus Martius (during his third consulship 27 BC). He married Claudia Marcella the Elder, daughter of Octavia the Younger in 28 BC, and Julia the Elder in 21 BC, with whom he had five children. His daughter Agrippina Vipsania the Younger the married Tiberius, and his daughter Agrippina Vipsania the Elder married Germanicus. His last campaign initiated the conquest of the upper Danube region, which would become the Roman province of Pannonia in 13 BC. Augustus had Agrippa’s remains placed in his own mausoleum. Ronald Syme offers a compelling case that Agrippa was much more co-ruler of the empire with Augustus than he was a subordinate.Blindado
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1bi FaustinaWife of Antoninus Pius, died 141
Sestertius
Draped bust, right, DIVA FAVSTINA
Vesta stg, AVGVSTA SC
RIC 1178
The Historia Augusta recounts: On the death of his wife Faustina, in the third year of his reign, the senate deified her, and voted her games and a temple and priestesses and statues of silver and of gold. These the Emperor accepted, and furthermore granted permission that her statue be erected in all the circuses ; and when the senate voted her a golden statue, he undertook to erect it himself. Blindado
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1dk Aurelian270-275
Radiate, cuirassed bust, right, IMP AVRELIANVS AVG
Aurelian & Severina or priest standing facing each other, each holding short sceptre, sacrificing at altar between them, S in ex, PIETAS AVG
Zosimus recorded: Aurelianus, having regulated the empire, went from Rome to Aquileia, and from thence into Pannonia, which he was informed the Scythians were preparing to invade. For this reason he sent orders to the inhabitants of that country to carry into the towns all their corn and cattle, and every thing that could be of use to the enemy, in order to distress them with famine, with which they were already afflicted. The Barbarians having crossed the river into Pannonia had an engagement, the result of which was nearly equal. But the same night, the Barbarians recrossed the river, and as soon as day appeared, sent ambassadors to treat for peace. |25
The Emperor, hearing that the Alemanni and the neighbouring nations intended to over-run Italy, was with just reason more concerned for Rome and the adjacent places, than for the more remote. Having therefore ordered a sufficient force to remain for the defence of Pannonia, he marched towards Italy, and on his route, on the borders of that country, near the Ister, slew many thousands of the Barbarians in one battle. Several members of the senate being at this time accused of conspiring against the emperor were put to death ; and Rome, which before had no walls, was now surrounded with them. This work was begun in the reign of Aurelianus, and was finished by Probus. At the same time Epitimius, Urbanus, and Domitianus, were likewise suspected as innovators, and were immediately apprehended and punished. During these occurrences in Italy and Pannonia, the emperor prepared to march against the Palmyrenians, who had subdued all Egypt, and the east, as far as Ancyra in Galatia, and would have acquired Bithynia even as far as Chalcedon, if the inhabitants of that country had not learned that Aurelianus was made emperor, and so shook off the Palmyrenian yoke. As soon as the emperor was on his march thither, Ancyra submitted to the Romans, and afterwards Tuana, and all the cities between that and Antioch. There finding Zenobia with a large army ready to engage, as he himself also was, he met and engaged her as honour obliged him [an defeated the enemy. . . .
[Having crushed Palmyra and razed it] He then entered Rome in triumph, where he was most magnificiently received by the senate and people. At this period also be erected that sumptuous temple of the sun, which he ornamented with all the sacred spoils that he brought from Palmyra; placing in it the statues of the sun and Belus. After this he easily reduced Tatricus with his rebellious accomplices, whom he brought to signal punishment. He likewise called in all the counterfeit money, and issued new, to avoid confusion in trade. Besides which he bestowed on the people a gift of bread, as a mark of his favour; and having arranged all affairs set out on a journey from Rome. . . .
During his stay at Perinthus, now called Heraclea, a conspiracy was thus formed against him. There was in the court a man named Eros, whose office was to carry out the answers of the emperor. This man had been for some fault threatened by the emperor, and put in great fear. Dreading therefore lest the emperor should realize his menaces by actions, he went to some of the guard, whom he knew to be the boldest men in the court; be told them a plausible story, and shewed them a letter of his own writing, in the character of the emperor (which he had long before learned to counterfeit), and persuading them first that they themselves were to be put to death, [h]e endeavoured to prevail on them to murder the emperor. The deception answered. Observing Aurelianus to go out of the city with a small retinue, they ran out upon him and murdered him.
RIC 138Blindado
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1en Julian II "Apostate"360-363
AE3
Pearl-diademed, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, holding shield & spear, D N FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG
VOT X MVLT XX in four lines within wreath, palm branch-BSIS-palm branch in ex [?].
RIC 415
According to Zosimus: Constantius, having so well succeeded in his design against Vetranio, marched against Magnentius, having first conferred the title of Caesar on Gallus, the son of his uncle, and brother to Julian who was afterwards emperor, and given him in marriage his sister Constantia. . . . CONSTANTIUS, after having acted towards Gallus Caesar in the manner I have related, left Pannonia to proceed into Italy. . . . He scarcely thought himself capable of managing affairs at this critical period. He was unwilling, however, to associate any one with himself in the government, because he so much desired to rule alone, and could esteem no man his friend. Under these circumstances he was at a loss how to act. It happened, however, that when the empire was in the greatest danger, Eusebia, the wife of Constantius, who was a woman of extraordinary learning, and of greater wisdom than her sex is usually endowed with, advised him to confer the government of the nations beyond the Alps on Julianus Caesar, who was brother to Gallus, and grandson to Constantius. As she knew that the emperor was suspicious of all his kindred, she thus circumvented him. She observed to him, that Julian was a young man unacquainted with the intrigues of state, having devoted himself totally to his studies; and that he was wholly inexperienced in worldly business. That on this account he would be more fit for his purpose than any other person. That either he would be fortunate, and his success would be attributed to the emperor's conduct, or that he would fail and perish; and that thus Constantius would have none of the imperial family to succeed to him.
Constantius, having approved her advice, sent for Julian from Athens, where he lived among the philosophers, and excelled all his masters in every kind of learning. Accordingly, Julian returning from Greece into Italy, Constantius declared him Caesar, gave him in marriage his sister Helena, and sent him beyond the Alps. . . .
Constantius, having thus disposed of Julian, marched himself into Pannonia and Moesia, and having there suppressed the Quadi and the Sarmatians, proceeded to the east, and was provoked to war by the inroads of the Persians. Julian by this time had arrived beyond the Alps into the Gallic nations which he was to rule. Perceiving that the Barbarians continued committing the same violence, Eusebia, for the same reasons as before, persuaded Constantius to place the entire management of those countries into the hands of Julian. . . . Julian finding the military affairs of Gallia Celtica in a very ruinous state, and that the Barbarians pased the Rhine without any resistance, even almost as far as the sea-port towns, he took a survey of the remaining parts of the enemy. And understanding that the people of those parts were terrified at the very name of the Barbarians, while those whom Constantius had sent along with him, who were not more than three hundred and sixty, knew nothing more, as he used to say, than how to say their prayers, he enlisted as many more as he could and took in a great number of volunteers. He also provided arms, and finding a quantity of old weapons in some town he fitted them up, and distributed them among the soldiers. The scouts bringing him intelligence, that an immense number of Barbarians had crossed the river near the city of Argentoratum (Strasburg) which stands on the Rhine, he no sooner heard of it, than he led forth his army with the greatest speed, and engaging with the enemy gained such a victory as exceeds all description.
After these events he raised a great army to make war on the whole German nation; He was opposed however by the Barbarians in vast numbers. Caesar therefore would not wait while they came up to him, but crossed the Rhine, preferring that their country should be the seat of war, and not that of the Romans, as by that means the cities would escape being again pillaged by the Barbarians. A most furious battle therefore took place; a great number of the Barbarians being slain on the field of battle, while the rest fled, and were pursued by Caesar into the Hercynian forest, and many of them killed. . . .
But while Julian was at Parisium, a small town in Germany, the soldiers, being ready to march, continued at supper till midnight in a place near the palace, which they so called there. They were as yet ignorant of any design against Caesar [by Constantius], when some tribunes, who began to suspect the contrivance against him, privately distributed a number of anonymous billets among the soldiers, in which they represented to them, that Caesar, by his judicious conduct had so managed affairs, that almost all of them had erected trophies over the Barbarians ; that he had always fought like a private soldier, and was now in extreme danger from the emperor, who would shortly deprive him of his whole army, unless they prevented it. Some of the soldiers having read these billets, and published the intrigue to the whole army, all were highly enraged. They suddenly rose from their seats in great commotion, and with the cups yet in their hands went to the palace. Breaking open the doors without ceremony, they brought out Caesar, and lifting him on a shield declared him emperor and Augustus. They then, without attending to his reluctance, placed a diadem upon his head. . . .
Arriving at Naisus, he consulted the soothsayers what measures to pursue. As the entrails signified that he must stay there for some time, he obeyed, observing likewise the time that was mentioned in his dream. When this, according to the motion of the planets, was arrived, a party of horsemen arrived from Constantinople at Naisus, with intelligence that Constantius was dead, and that the armies desired Julian to be emperor. Upon this he accepted what the gods had bestowed upon him, and proceeded on his journey. On his arrival at. Byzantium, he was received with joyful acclamations. . . .
[After slashing through Persia and crossing the Tigris,] they perceived the Persian army, with which they engaged, and having considerably the advantage, they killed a great number of Persians. Upon the following day, about noon, the Persians drew up in a large body, and once more attacked the rear of the Roman army. The Romans, being at that time out of their ranks, were surprised and alarmed at the suddenness of the attack, yet made a stout and spirited defence. The emperor, according to his custom, went round the army, encouraging them to fight with ardour. When by this means all were engaged, the emperor, who sometimes rode to the commanders and tribunes, and was at other times among the private soldiers, received a wound in the heat of the engagement, and was borne on a shield to his tent. He survived only till midnight. He then expired, after having nearly subverted the Persian empire.
Note: Julian favored the pagan faith over Christianity and was tarred by the church as "the apostate." Blindado
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2009-Austria - CarnuntumThe huge "Heidentor" (Heathens' Gate) was erected between 354 AD and 361 AD as a triumphal monument for Emperor Constantius II. berserker
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42 BC L. Mussidius LongusCONCORDIA
Veiled and diad. head of Concordia right star below chin
L. MVSSIDIVS LONGVS
Shrine of Venus Cloacina consisting of circular platform, inscribed CLOACIN, surmounted by two statues of the goddess
Rome
42 BC
3.42g
Sear 494, RRC 494/42
Plated Fouree
ex-Canadian Coin
In Roman mythology, Cloacina (Latin, cloaca: "sewer" or "drain") was the goddess who presided over the Cloaca Maxima the main sewer drain in Rome. The Cloaca Maxima is traditionally said to have beeen started by one of Rome's Etruscan kings, Tarquinius Priscus. Despite her Etruscan origins, she later became identified with Venus.
Titus Tatius, who reigned with Romulus, erected a statue to Cloacina as the spirit of the "Great Drain". As well as controlling sewers, she was also a protector of sexual intercourse in marriage. The Romans believed that a good sewage system was important for the success of Rome, as a good sewer system was necessary for the physical health of Roman citizens. Additionally, Romans worshipped Cloacina as the goddess of purity. Cloacina was worshipped as an aspect of Venus at the small Shrine of Venus Cloacina, located in front of the Basilica Aemilia in the Roman Forum and directly above the Cloaca Maxima. The depiction on the reverse of this coin is that shrine.
The image of Concordia could be interpreted to convey the thought of Unity between the triumvirs to defeat Brutus and Cassius. Venus Cloacina on the reverse conveys the thought of purification for the treacherous murder of the dictator Julius Caesar by men who claimed to be his friends.Jay GT4
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501b. Crispus Ticinum VOTATicinum
Ticinum (the modern Pavia) was an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, founded on the banks of the river of the same name (now the Ticino river) a little way above its confluence with the Padus (Po).
It is said by Pliny to have been founded by the Laevi and Marici, two Ligurian tribes, while Ptolemy attributes it to the Insubres.
Its importance in Roman times was due to the extension of the Via Aemilia from Ariminum (Rimini) to the Padus (187 BC), which it crossed at Placentia (Piacenza) and there forked, one branch going to Mediolanum (Milan) and the other to Ticinum, and thence to Laumellum where it divided once more, one branch going to Vercellae - and thence to Eporedia and Augusta Praetoria - and the other to Valentia - and thence to Augusta Taurinorum (Turin) or to Pollentia.
The branch to Eporedia must have been constructed before 100 BC. Ticinum is not infrequently mentioned by classical writers. It was a municipium, and from an inscription we know that a triumphal arch was erected in honor of Augustus and his family, but we learn little of it except that in the 4th century AD there was a manufacture of bows there.
It was pillaged by Attila in AD 452 and by Odoacer in 476, but rose to importance as a military centre in the Gothic period. At Dertona and here the grain stores of Liguria were placed, and Theodoric the Great constructed a palace, baths and amphitheatre and new town walls; while an inscription of Athalaric relating to repairs of seats in the amphitheatre is preserved (AD 528‑529). From this point, too, navigation on the Padus seems to have begun. Narses recovered it for the Eastern Empire, but after a long siege, the garrison had to surrender to the Lombards in 572.
001b. Crispus Ticinum
RIC VII Ticinum 153 R3
ecoli
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504. Constantius II Campgate NicomediaNicomedia
Titular see of Bithynia Prima, founded by King Zipoetes. About 264 B.C. his son Nicodemes I dedicated the city anew, gave it his name, made it his capital, and adorned it with magnificent monuments. At his court the vanquished Hannibal sought refuge. When Bithynia became a Roman province Nicomedia remained its capital. Pliny the Younger mentions, in his letters to Trajan, several public edifices of the city — a senate house, an aqueduct which he had built, a forum, the temple of Cybele, etc. He also proposed to join the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmora by a canal which should follow the river Sangarius and empty the waters of the Lake of Sabandja into the Gulf of Astacus. A fire then almost destroyed the town. From Nicomedia perhaps, he wrote to Trajan his famous letter concerning the Christians. Under Marcus Aurelius, Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, addressed a letter to his community warning them against the Marcionites (Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl.", IV, xxiii). Bishop Evander, who opposed the sect of the Ophites (P.L., LIII, 592), seems to have lived at the same time. Nicomedia was the favorite residence of Diocletian, who built there a palace, a hippodrome, a mint, and an arsenal. In 303 the edict of the tenth persecution caused rivers of blood to flow through the empire, especially in Nicomedia, where the Bishop Anthimus and a great many Christians were martyred. The city was then half Christian, the palace itself being filled with them. In 303, in the vast plain east of Nicomedia, Diocletian renounced the empire in favour of Galerius. In 311 Lucian, a priest of Antioch, delivered a discourse in the presence of the judge before he was executed. Other martyrs of the city are numbered by hundreds. Nicomedia suffered greatly during the fourth century from an invasion of the Goths and from an earthquake (24 Aug., 354), which overthrew all the public and private monuments; fire completed the catastrophe. The city was rebuilt, on a smaller scale. In the reign of Justinian new public buildings were erected, which were destroyed in the following century by the Shah Chosroes. Pope Constantine I visited the city in 711. In 1073 John Comnenus was there proclaimed emperor and shortly afterwards was compelled to abdicate. In 1328 it was captured by the Sultan Orkhan, who restored its ramparts, parts of which are still preserved.
RIC VII Nicomedia 158 R2
ecoli
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504. CONSTANTIUS II GLORIA EXERCITVS AntiochAntioch
Under the empire we chiefly hear of the earthquakes which shook Antioch. One, in AD 37, caused the emperor Caligula to send two senators to report on the condition of the city. Another followed in the next reign; and in 115, during Trajan's sojourn in the place with his army of Parthia, the whole site was convulsed, the landscape altered, and the emperor himself forced to take shelter in the circus for several days. He and his successor restored the city; but in 526, after minor shocks, the calamity returned in a terrible form; the octagonal cathedral which had been erected by the emperor Constantius II suffered and thousands of lives were lost, largely those of Christians gathered to a great church assembly. We hear also of especially terrific earthquakes on November 29, 528 and October 31, 588.
At Antioch Germanicus died in AD 19, and his body was burnt in the forum. Titus set up the Cherubim, captured from the Jewish temple, over one of the gates. Commodus had Olympic games celebrated at Antioch, and in 266 the town was suddenly raided by the Persians, who slew many in the theatre. In 387 there was a great sedition caused by a new tax levied by order of Theodosius, and the city was punished by the loss of its metropolitan status. Zeno, who renamed it Theopolis, restored many of its public buildings just before the great earthquake of 526, whose destructive work was completed by the Persian Chosroes twelve years later. Justinian I made an effort to revive it, and Procopius describes his repairing of the walls; but its glory was past.
The chief interest of Antioch under the empire lies in its relation to Christianity. Evangelized perhaps by Peter, according to the tradition upon which the Antiochene patriarchate still rests its claim for primacy (cf. Acts xi.), and certainly by Barnabas and Paul, who here preached his first Christian sermon in a synagogue, its converts were the first to be called Christians
004. CONSTANTIUS II Antioch
RIC VII Antioch 88 C3
From Uncleaned Lot
ecoli
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601. EudoxiaAelia Eudoxia (d. 6 October 404) was the wife of the Eastern Roman emperor Arcadius.
The daughter of a certain Bauto, a Frankish magister militum serving in the Western Roman army during the 380s, Eudoxia owed her marriage to the youthful Emperor Arcadius on 27 April 395 to the intrigues of the eunuch of the palace, Eutropius. She had very considerable influence over her husband, who was of rather weak character and who was more interested in Christian piety than imperial politics.
In 399 she succeeded, with help from the leader of the Empire's Gothic mercenaries, in deposing her erstwhile benefactor Eutropius, who was later executed over the protests of John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople.
John Chrysostom was already becoming unpopular at court due to his efforts at reforming the Church, and in 403 Eudoxia and Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, succeeded in having the outspoken Patriarch condemned by a synod and then deposed. He was exiled to Armenia the next year after a brief return to power resulting from popular disgust at his fall and an earthquake which reinforced those feelings.
Eudoxia had a total of seven pregnancies, five of which were successful. Her final pregnancy ended in a miscarriage which led to her death on October 6, 404. One of her children was the future emperor Theodosius II.
In 403, Simplicius, Prefect of Constantinople, erected a statue dedicated to her on a column of porphyry. Arcadius renamed the town of Selymbria (Silivri) Eudoxiopolis after her, though this name did not survive.
Bronze AE 4, RIC 102, S 4241, VM 6, VF, 2.14g, 17.0mm, 180o, Nikomedia mint, 401-403 A.D.; obverse AEL EVDOXIA AVG, diademed and draped bust right with hand of God holding wreath over her head; reverse SALVS REIPVBLICAE, Victory seated on cuirass inscribing Christogram on shield, SMNA in ex; softly struck reverse; rareecoli
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ANTONINUS PIUS / SERAPIS , Alexandria BILLION TETRADRACHMMINTED IN ALEXANDRIA , EGYPT FROM 138 - 161 AD
OBVERSE : ANTwNINO C CEBEUC CEB Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right.
REVERSE : Draped bust of Serapis right,modius on head. L K
References : SNG Cop 426 ( No, L K ?)
22.2 MM AND 13.15 GRAMS.
Alexandria ( of Egypt ) issued billon tetradrachms in large numbers between the reign of Augustus and the closing of the Alexandrian mint during the reign of Diocletian. These coins were no doubt mainly intended to pay the salaries of government officials, of the permanent garrison, and of the temporary troops stationed in Alexandria for purposes of war. They were probably also the form in which taxes in money were received, and were used for trade among the people within the city of Alexandria and other Graeco-Roman cities in Egypt. They also served the purpose of providing a subsidiary coinage with Greek legends which formed the vehicle for Roman imperial propaganda throughout Egypt. On the reverse of these coins were placed the Egyptian Hellenized deities, as an indication of the goodwill of the Roman emperors towards Egypt.
The greater part of the agricultural population of Egypt had scarcely any need for coins except to pay their taxes. The real currency and measure of value in the agricultural settlements was grain, wine or oil. The chief export of Egypt was grain, and this did not bring much money to the cultivators, for most of the grain was collected as tribute, not in trade, and they got nothing in return. Consequently, there is reason to suppose that considerably fewer coins circulated in Egypt generally than the region of Alexandria.
From the reign of Nero onwards, Egypt enjoyed an era of prosperity which lasted a century. Much trouble was caused by religious conflicts between the Greeks and the Jews, particularly in Alexandria, which after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD become the world centre of Jewish religion and culture. Under Trajan a Jewish revolt occurred, resulting in the suppression of the Jews of Alexandria and the loss of all their privileges, although they soon returned. Hadrian, who twice visited Egypt, founded Antinoöpolis in memory of his drowned lover Antinous. From his reign onwards buildings in the Greco-Roman style were erected throughout the country. Under Marcus Aurelius, however, oppressive taxation led to a revolt (139 AD) of the native Egyptians, which was suppressed only after several years of fighting.
From The Sam Mansourati Collection. Sam
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Apollonia Pontica Topalov 93 - Bronze OctochalkBeginning of 2nd century B.C.
6.25 gm, 22 mm.
Obv: : Laurate head of Apollo, r, with long hair up in a bun.
Reverse: AÎ OΛΛΩNOΣ (vertically right) IATPOY (vertically left). Apollo, standing front, head to left, on a pedestal or on the ground, holding a laurel tree with his right hand and a bow and two arrows with his left. On the tree a small bird is seated right. The image represents the statue of Kalamis erected in the town. The bird may be Apollo’s raven.
Topalov Apollonia p. 508-9, 1-3; p.620, 93, p.804;
HGC 1338 var.;
SNG Bulgaria (Ruse) II, 468-71 (late 3rd-2nd c. BC)
Topalov Type 93. Bronze octochalk (beginning of the 2nd c. B.C.) of the type “Apollo’s head – image of the statue of Apollo standing, full-face” p. 508-509, 1-3; p. 620 No. 93; p.804
Obverse: Apollo’s head with long hair out up in a bun right, no laurel wreath, ribbon with ornaments. Laurate Apollo right. The rich hair in a tress above the face and tied in a bun on the back of the neck. Locks falling over the ears and the neck.
Reverse: AÎ OΛΛΩNOΣ (vertically right) IATPOY (vertically left). The statue of the full-face naked Apollo, holding a laurel tree and a bow and two arrows. There are no magistrates’ names. The image represents the statue of Kalamis erected in the town. AÎ OΛΛΩNOΣ (vertically right) IATPOY (vertically left). The statue of the naked Apollo, full-face, standing on a pedestal or on the ground, holding a laurel tree in his right hand and a bow with arrows in his left hand. There are no magistrates’ names on the coins of this type known to us.
Jaimelai
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Apollonia Pontica Topalov 94 - Bronze DichalkBeginning of 2nd century B.C.
2.50 gm, 14 mm.
Obv: Naked Apollo, full-face, standing and holding a laurel tree in his right hand and a bow with arrows in his left hand.
Rev.: Upright anchor with large flukes and a rectangular stock. The letter A to left between fluke and the stock.
Topalov Apollonia p. 510, 1; p.620, 94 var., p.804-5;
SNG BM Black Sea 190
Topalov Type 94: Bronze coins of the type “Standing Apollo - Upright Anchor”, dichalk (?)
Obv.: Full-face naked Apollo, standing and holding a laurel tree and two arrows. The image represents the statue of Kalamis erected in the town.
Rev.: Upright anchor with large flukes and a rectangular stock. The letter A l. and the additional symbol of a crab r. viewed from above on the other side between flukes and the stock.
Jaimelai
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Apollonia Pontica Topalov 95 - Bronze DichalkBeginning of 2nd century B.C.
2.80 gm, 15 mm.
Obv: Naked Apollo, full-face, standing and holding a laurel tree in his right hand and a bow with arrows in his left hand.
Rev.: Upright anchor with large flukes and a rectangular stock. The letter A to left and the letter Î between fluke and the stock.
Topalov Apollonia p. 510-511, 3-5; p. 620, 95; p.804-5;
SNG BM Black Sea 191; HGC 3.2 1345;
SNG Bulgaria (Ruse) II, 473 var. (late 3rd-2nd c. BC)
Topalov Type 95: Bronze dichalk (beginning of the 2nd c. B.C.) of the type “Standing Apollo – upright anchor”
Obverse: Full-face naked Apollo, standing and holding a laurel tree and two arrows. The image represents the statue of Kalamis erected in the town. Naked Apollo, full-face, standing and holding a laurel tree in his right hand and a bow with arrows in his left hand.
Reverse: Upright anchor with large flukes and a rectangular stock. The letter A left and the letter Γ right between flukes and the stock.
Jaimelai
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ARCH, Caracalla & Julia Domna, Moesia inferior, Markianopolis, 19. HrJ (2013) 6.19.46.27Caracalla & Julia Domna, AD 198-217
AE26, 11.43g, 26.27mm, 45°
struck under governor Quintilianus
obv. [ANTWNINOC] AVGOVCTOC IOVLIA - DOMNA
confronted busts of the Imperial pair
rev. VP KVNTILIANOV MARKIANOPOLITWN
Triumphal arch, with two floors, three doors, two windows; above four figures, from
l. to r.: Caracalla with sceptre(?), Severus, Julia Domna, and - a bit smaller - Geta
on r. side E (for Pentassarion)
ref. a) AMNG I/1, 695 (1 ex., Mandl)
b) Varbanov (engl.) 1041
c) Hristova/Jekov (2013) No.6.19.46.27
d) BMC 20
rare, about VF/superb EF
This type seems to depict a triumphal arch erected in Marcianopolis. For the 4 figures on top will be no other interpretation possible than that suggested by A.v.Sallet (Cat. Berlin 58, 11) of the Imperial family...So we have in te middle Severus and Domna, on the l. side Caracalla and on the r. side a bit smaller Geta. The triumphal arch seems to be erected under Severus but appears not until Caracalla's sole reign, probably at the beginning because Geta is depicted too (Pick).
Jochen
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Arkadia, Pheneos, ca. 300-240 BC, Æ Dichalkon Wreathed bust of Artemis Heurippa right, with bow and quiver over shoulder.
ΦENEΩN Mare grazing right; AP monogram below, HP monogram in exergue.
HGC 5, 988; BCD Peloponnesos 1626; SNG Copenhagen 274; BMC 24.
(16 mm, 3.07 g, 3h)
Gorny & Mosch 216, 16 October 2013, 2446.
Amongst the finest examples of the type known, with a beautifully detailed bust of Artemis.
Pheneos lies at the foot of Mount Kyllene, located near the modern village of Kalyvia and in the ancient region of Arkadia in the Peloponnese. It served as an important cultural centre, notably for holding the Hermaea, a series of ancient Greek festivals in honour of Hermes. The latter god figures prominently on most of the coinage of Pheneos. However, the basis for the iconography of this rare coin is the tradition that Odysseus discovered his lost mares in Phenean territory. In gratitude he erected a temple to Artemis Heurippa (the finder of horses). The legend is recounted by Pausanius (8.14.5) "There stands also a bronze Poseidon, surnamed Horse, whose image, it is said, was dedicated by Odysseus. The legend is that Odysseus lost his mares, traversed Greece in search of them, and on the site in the land of Pheneos where he found his mares founded a sanctuary of Artemis, calling the goddess Horse-finder (Heurippa), and also dedicated the image of Horse Poseidon." Little remains of the ancient city of Pheneos. Like many ancient cities, its coinage, which is of limited volume, remains the most tangible evidence of its existence.
n.igma
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Artemis, (Diana of Ephesus), in her TempleTI. CLAVD CAES AVG. Claudius bare head, facing left. / DIAN-EPHE Cult statue of Diana (Artemis) of Ephesus inside a tetra style temple, set on three tiered base; pediment decorated by figures flanking three windows.
RIC I 118; RPC I 2222; BMCRE 229; RSC 30; Sear Millennium 1839. Ephesus ca. 41-42 AD.
(25 mm, 11.14 g, 6h)
The statue of Artemis (Diana) at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Depicted on this coin, which was minted shortly after Claudius’ accession to the throne, there remains no trace of the statue, or the temple that housed it, other than some recently stacked column remnants to mark the location. Pliny The Elder described the temple as 115 meters in length, 55 meters in width, made almost entirely of marble; consisting of 127 Ionic style columns 18 meters in height. The original temple, which stood on the site from about 550 BC, was destroyed by arson in 356 BC. It was rebuilt around 330 BC in the form depicted on the coin, only to be destroyed by the Goths in 262 AD. Again rebuilt it was destroyed for the final time by Christians in 401 AD. The columns and marble of the temple were used to construct other buildings. Some of the columns found their way into the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul).
The site of the temple was rediscovered in 1869 by an expedition sponsored by the British Museum, but little remains to be seen today. A Christian inscription found at Ephesus reads Destroying the delusive image of the demon Artemis, Demeas has erected this symbol of Truth, the God that drives away idols, and the Cross of priests, deathless and victorious sign of Christ. This Christian zeal explains why so little remains of the site despite its repute in the ancient pre-Christian world.
This coin is rare with a few dozen examples known. In contrast to most examples, which show a four tiered temple base, the reverse of this coin shows a three-tiered temple base. The rectangles on the pediment of the temple are frequently identified as tables, or altars. However, it is more likely that these are windows in the pediment to facilitate lighting of the statue in the interior of the temple. The Ionic style of the columns, as described by Pliny, is clearly visible in the reverse image.
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Augustus RIC I, 322Augustus 27 BC - AD 14
AR - Denar, 3.83g, 20mm, Rome 19 BC, by moneyer Q Rustius
obv. Q RVSTIVS - FORTVNA, ANTIAT (in ex., hard to see!)
Busts, draped, jugate, r., of Fortuna Victrix, helmeted, holding patera in l.
hand, and Fortuna Felix, wearing stephane;
both busts rest on bar terminating at each end in a ram' s head
rev. CAESARI . AVGVSTO
A highly ornamented rectangular altar with a bowl on it, inscribed in front
FOR.RE
ex.: EX.S.C.
RIC I, 322; BMCR 2
R2; about VF, toned
FORTVNA ANTIATIS, Fortuna of Antium, one of the most important places of Fortuna worshipping, as two goddesses, sisters, FORTVNA VICTRIX, more male, and FORTVNA FELIX, more female. Or as two aspects of only one goddess?
On the rev. the altar of FORTVNA REDVX, erected by the Senatus for the lucky return of Augustus 19BC with the 53 standards from the Parthians in Rome near the Porta Capuana.
Q Rustius celebrates Augustus and his own hometown Antium.Jochen
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Augustus RIC I, 322Augustus 27 BC - AD 14
AR - Denar, 3.83g, 20mm, Rome 19 BC, by moneyer Q Rustius
obv. Q RVSTIVS - FORTVNAE (AE ligate)
in ex. ANTIAT (hardly to see!)
Busts, draped, jugate, r., of Fortuna Victrix, helmeted, holding patera in l.
hand, and Fortuna Felix, wearing stephane;
both busts rest on bar terminating at each end in a ram' s head
rev. CAESARI . AVGVSTO
A highly ornamented rectangular altar with a bowl on it, inscribed in front
FOR.RE
ex.: EX.S.C.
RIC I, 322; BMCR 2
R2; about VF, toned
FORTVNA ANTIATIS, Fortuna of Antium, one of the most important places of Fortuna worshipping, as two goddesses, sisters, FORTVNA VICTRIX, more male, and FORTVNA FELIX, more female. Or as two aspects of only one goddess?
On the rev. the altar of FORTVNA REDVX, erected by the Senatus for the lucky return of Augustus 19BC with the 53 standards from the Parthians in Rome near the Porta Capuana.
Q Rustius celebrates Augustus and his own hometown Antium.
Jochen
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Augustus RIC I, 86aAugustus, 27 BC - AD 14
AR - Denar, 3.74g, 19mm
Colonia Patricia(?), ca. 19 BC - 18 BC
obv. CAESAR AVGVSTVS
bare head r.
rev. SIGNIS above, RECEPTIS under round shield inscribed with CL.V between
eagle l. and standard r. S.P.Q.R. at the corners of the shield
RIC I, 86a; BMCR 417; RSC 265
good VF, toned
The eagle standards were introduced by Marius similar to the Ptolemaic eagle to each of his legions. This issue celebrates the recovery of the 3 eagle-standards 20 BC by Augustus, which were lost by Crassus 53 BC at the battle of Carrhae against the Parthians. The 3 eagles thereafter were erected in the new temple of Mars Ultor on the Forum of Augustus. The day of recovery was determined public holiday.Jochen
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Augustus RIC I, 86aJochen's Augustus RIC I, 86a
Augustus, 27 BC - AD 14
AR - Denar, 3.74g, 19mm
Colonia Patricia(?), ca. 19 BC - 18 BC
obv. CAESAR AVGVSTVS
bare head r.
rev. SIGNIS above, RECEPTIS under round shield inscribed with CL.V between
eagle l. and standard r. S.P.Q.R. at the corners of the shield
RIC I, 86a; BMCR 417; RSC 265
good VF, toned
The eagle standards were introduced by Marius similar to the Ptolemaic eagle to each of his legions. This issue celebrates the recovery of the 3 eagle-standards 20 BC by Augustus (by negotiations), which were lost by Crassus 53 BC at the battle of Carrhae against the Parthians. The 3 eagles thereafter were erected in the new temple of Mars Ultor on the Forum of Augustus. The day of recovery was determined public holiday.
Jochen
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Augustus, 27 BC - 14 ADObv: No legend, laureate head of Augustus facing right.
Rev: A square altar inscribed FORT RED / CAES AVG / S P Q R.
Note: Refers to the altar to Neptune erected by the Senate near Rome's gates to commemorate Augustus' safe return from Armenia in 19 BC.
Plated Denarius, Illegal mint after Patricia or Nemausus, c. 19 - 18 BC
2.9 grams, 18.6 mm, 165°
RIC I 54a, RSC 104, S1608 (var.), VM 58
Ex: FORVMMatt Inglima
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Bramsen 0067. Column du Department du Rhone, 1800.Bramsen 0067. Column du Department du Rhone, 1800. – 6 views
Obv. From the trumpet of the winged victory hangs a banner AUX BRAVES DU DEP U RHONE
Rev. Text IN EACH DEPATMENT THERE WILL BE ERECTED A COLUMN TO THE MEMORY OF THE BRAVE MEN OF THE DEPARTMENT WHO DIED IN DEFENSE OF THE FATHERLAND AND OF LIBERTY -- DECREE OF 29 VENTOSE YEAR 8 OF THE REPUBLIC; CONSULS BONAPARTE, CAMBACERES, LEBRUN; MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR LU. BONAPARTE. In French.
33mm
Struck in 1800, rare.
LordBest
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Britain, Bath, Aquae Sulis, East BathsThe east baths have had false walls erected to show floor level and to try and differentiate between usage areas.maridvnvm
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Bruttium, Rhegion, 415-387 B.C., Drachm 14mm, 3.89 grams
Reference: Sear 502; B.M.C.1.38
Lion's scalp facing.
PHΓINON, Laureate head of Apollo right, olive-sprig behind.
"Dionysios I, after concluding a peace with the Carthaginians, went about securing his power in the island of Sicily. His troops, however, rebelled against him and sought help from, among others, the city of Rhegion (Diod. Sic. 14.8.2). In the ensuing campaigns, Dionyios I proceeded to enslave the citizens of Naxos and Katane, with whom the Rhegians shared a common history and identity (Diod. Sic. 14.40.1). This association was a source of anger and fear for the inhabitants of Rhegion. The Syracusan exiles living there also encouraged the Rhegians to go to war with Syracuse (Diod. Sic. 14.40.3). The overarching strategy of Dionysios I included extending his power into Italy by using Rhegion as a stepping stone to the rest of the peninsula. In 387 BC, after a siege that lasted eleven months, the Rhegians, on the brink of starvation, surrendered to Dionysus. Indeed, we are told that by the end of the siege, a medimnos of wheat cost about five minai (Diod. Sic. 14.111.2). Strabo remarks that, following Dionysios' capture of the city, the Syracusan “destroyed the illustrious city” (Strabo 6.1.6).
The next decade or so of the history of Rhegion is unclear, but sometime during his reign, Dionysios II, who succeeded his father in 367 BC, rebuilt the city, giving it the new name of Phoibia (Strabo 6.1.6). Herzfelder argues that this issue was struck by Dionysios II of Syracuse after he rebuilt the city, and dates it to the period that Dionysios II is thought to have lived in the city. Due to civil strife at Syracuse, Dionysios II was forced to garrison Region, but was ejected from the city by two of his rivals circa 351 BC (Diod. Sic. 16.45.9).
The coin types of Rhegion, founded as a colony of Chalcis, are related to its founding mythology. Some of the earliest tetradrachms of the city, from the mid-5th century BC, depict a lion’s head on the obverse, and a seated figure on the reverse. J.P. Six (in NC 1898, pp. 281-5) identified the figure as Iokastos, the oikistes (founder) of Rhegion (Diod. Sic. 5.8.1; Callimachus fr. 202). Head (in HN), suggested Aristaios, son of Apollo. Iokastos was one of six sons of Aiolos, ruler of the Aeolian Islands. All of the sons of Aiolos secured their own realms in Italy and Sicily, with Iokastos taking the region around Rhegion. Aristaios, born in Libya, discovered the silphium plant, and was the patron of beekeepers (mentioned by Virgil), shepherds, vintners, and olive growers. He also protected Dionysos as a child, and was the lover of Eurydike. The replacement of the seated figure type with the head of Apollo circa 420 BC also suggests the figure could be Aristaios. An anecdote from the first-century BC geographer Strabo (6.1.6 and 6.1.9), which connects Rhegion’s founding to the orders of the Delphic Oracle and Apollo, as the reason for the advent of the new type could be simply serendipitous.
Different theories exist for the lion’s head on the coins of Rhegion. The lion’s head (or mask as it is sometimes described) first appeared on the coinage of Rhegion at the start of the reign of Anaxilas, in about 494 BC. E.S.G. Robinson, in his article “Rhegion, Zankle-Messana and the Samians” (JHS vol. 66, 1946) argues that the lion was a symbol of Apollo. He makes a comparison to the coinage of the nearby city of Kaulonia, “At Kaulonia Apollo’s animal was the deer; if at Rhegion it was the lion, the early appearance and persistence of that type is explained. The lion is a certain, though infrequent, associate of Apollo at all periods.” The link, he suggests, is that the lion was associated with the sun, as was Apollo himself.
The lion’s head could also relate to the exploits of Herakles, who had some significance for the city. The extant sources tell us that Herakles stopped at southern Italy near Rhegion on his return with the cattle of Geryon (Diod. Sic. 4.22.5). It was here that supposedly a bull broke away from the rest of the herd and swam to Sicily (Apollod. 2.5.10). Though but a passing reference in Apollodorus, it is very possible that the Rhegians venerated Herakles. Indeed, Herakles was a very important figure throughout the entire area. Dionysios of Halicarnassus says that “in many other places also in Italy [besides Rome] precincts are dedicated to this god [Herakles] and altars erected to him, both in cities and along highways; and one could scarcely find any place in Italy in which the god is not honoured” (I.40.6). As the skin of the Nemean Lion was one of the main attributes of Herakles, the lion’s head may refer to him through metonymic association."Leo
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Bulgaria, Varna - Odessos, Thrace Roman BathsOdessus, Thrace, first included into the Roman Praefectura orae maritimae and then in 15 CE annexed to the province of Moesia (later Moesia Inferior), covered 47 hectares in present-day central Varna and had prominent public baths, Thermae, erected in the late 2nd century AD, now the largest Roman remains in Bulgaria (the building was 100 m (328.08 ft) wide, 70 m (229.66 ft) long, and 25 m (82.02 ft) high) and fourth-largest known Roman baths in Europe. Joe Sermarini
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C. Minucius C.f. Augurinus - AR denariusRome
²134 BC / ¹135 BC
helmeted head of Roma right
ROMA
X
Ionic column surmounted by statue; at base, two stalks of grain; on left, L. Minucius Augurinus standing right,
holding patera, foot on modius; on right, M. Minucius Faesus standing left, holding lituus.
C·A_VG
¹Crawford 242/1, SRCV I 119, Sydenham 463, RSC I Minucia 3,
²Mark Passehl - Roman moneyer & coin type chronology, 150 – 50 BC
3,7g 18mm
ex Aurea Numismatika
Reverse depicts a commemorative bronze column - Columna Minucia which was erected in front of the gate, Porta Trigemina, in memory of L. Minucius Augurinus who as Praefectus Annonae supplied Rome with grain during famine in 439 BC. On the right there is Marcus Minucius Faestus who was elected Augur as the first plebeian in 300 BC.J. B.
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C. Sulpicius C.f. (Galba) - AR denarius serratus³moneyer probably not belonged to the patrician Galba family but to a Plebeian branch
³Sardinia or Massalia region / ¹Rome
²103 BC / ¹106 BC
2 jugate laureate heads of Dii Penates Publici left
D · P · P
Two soldiers (or Dii Penas Publici) standing facing each other, holding spears and pointing at sow which lies between them
C
C·SV(LP)ICI·C·F
¹Crawford 312/1, RSC I Sulpicia 1, SRCV I 189, Sydenham 572
²Mark Passehl - Roman moneyer & coin type chronology, 150 – 50 BC
³Mark Passehl
3,96g 18mm
ex Aurea numismatika
The Sulpicii came from Lavinium and both sides of coin are related to it.
Di Penates Publici were taken from Troy together with Palladium by Aeneas. When Aeneas fled from Troy Helenus, a son of Priamos, has predicted Aeneas, that he would built a new city where a white sow would cast 30 piglets. Aeneas prepared to sacrifice a pregnant white sow he has brought in his ship for this purpose, but the sow escaped and fled 24 stadiums in the inland, layed down under an oak-tree (or ilex-tree) and casted 30 white piglets. Because of that Aeneas knew that this prophecy too became true and he should built a city here. He sacrificed the 30 piglets and erected a shrine at this place. The new city he called Lavinium referring to Lavinia, daughter of king Latinus. The 30 piglets represented 30 years only after which his successors became the real owners of the new land.
At the same time story of white sow predicts foundation of another town:
River god Tiber speak to Aeneas in a dream:
"....
A sow beneath an oak shall lie along,
All white herself, and white her thirty young.
When thirty rolling years have run their race,
Thy son Ascanius, on this empty space,
Shall build a royal town, of lasting fame,
Which from this omen shall receive the name.
..."
Alba Longa was founded just 30 years after Lavinium and so the prophecy was fulfilled here too. The name Alba Longa is said to be derived from the white sow (meaning the long white). So Lavinium was the mothertown of Alba Longa and finely of Rome itself. On the Forum of Lavinium stood a bronze statue of the sow, its body was conserved by the priests in pickle.
(Jochen's coins of mythological interests)J. B.
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Caligula sestertiusCaligula
Ae sestertius
22.3 g, 34 mm
40-41 AD
Obv: C CAESAR DIVI AVG PRON AVG P M TR P IIII P P PIETAS. Pietas, veiled, draped, seated left, holding patera in right hand and resting left arm on a small draped figure, standing on a basis, facing
Rev: DIVO AVG S C. Front view of hexastyle garlanded temple surmounted by quadriga. In front, Caligula, veiled and togate, sacrifices with patera over garlanded altar right; one attendant leads bull to altar right; a second holds patera.
Commemoration of the finalisation of the Divus Augustus temple. Erected on the Palatine Hill, it stands on the grounds where Augustus once resided before entering public service. The Roman Senate made a vow to construct it shortly after the emperor's death in AD 14, and the project reached completion around AD 37. This coin was minted during that period, coinciding with the dedication of the temple over the last two days of August in the same year—the month renamed in honor of Augustus.
Pontifex Maximus Caligula presided over the sacrificial ceremonies, as noted by Cassius Dio. Caligula's ordered commemorative events were exceptionally lavish, featuring a two-day horse race and the slaying of 400 bears and an equivalent number of wild beasts from Libya. Caligula also postponed all legal proceedings and suspended mourning to ensure widespread attendance. The temple's last recorded mention was on May 27, AD 218. Subsequently, it was entirely destroyed, and its stones were likely quarried for future construction projects. The site remains unexcavated, leaving its original appearance to be reconstructed solely from depictions on Roman coinage, with the present type being particularly significant in this regard.JayAg47
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CarinusFelicitas was the goddess or personification of good luck and success. She played an important role in Rome's state religion during the empire, and was frequently portrayed on coins. She was very closely associated with the imperial family.
Felicitas was unknown before the mid-2nd century BC, when a temple was dedicated to her in the Velabrum in the Campus Martius by Lucius Licinius Lucullus, using booty from his 151–150 BC campaign in Spain. The temple was destroyed by a fire during the reign of Claudius and was never rebuilt.
Another temple in Rome was planned by Julius Caesar and was erected after his death by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus on the site of the Curia Hostilia, which had been restored by Lucius Cornelius Sulla but demolished by Caesar in 44 BC. This temple no longer existed by the time of Hadrian, and its site probably lies under the church of Saints Luca and Martina.
The word felicitas, "luck", is also the source of the word and name felicity.
Carinus Billon Antoninianus. IMP CARINVS P F AVG, radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right / FELICIT PVBLICA, Felicitas standing left with cauduceus, leaning on column, TXXI in ex. RIC 295, Cohen 24.
ecoli
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Carrhae in Mesopotamia, Septimius Severus, AE 24, Lindgren 2557Carrhae in Mesopotamia, Septimius Severus, AE 24, 193-211 AD
Av.: CEΠTIMIOC [CE]OY.... , naked (laureate?) bust of Septimius Severus right
Rv.: ..Λ]OY KAPPH ΛKA... , front view of a tetrastyle temple, the temple of the moon god Sin, in the middle a sacred stone on tripod, on top of stone: crescent, standards (with crescents on top) on both sides inside the building; another crescent in the pediment.
Lindgren 2557 ; BMC p. 82, #4
The city and the region played an important role in roman history.
Carrhae / Harran, (Akkadian Harrânu, "intersecting roads"; Latin Carrhae), an ancient city of strategic importance, an important town in northern Mesopotamia, famous for its temple of the moon god Sin, is now nothing more than a village in southeastern Turkey with an archeological site.
In the Bible it is mentioned as one of the towns where Abraham stayed on his voyage from Ur to the promised land. Abraham's family settled there when they left Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:31-32).
Inscriptions indicate that Harran existed as early as 2000 B.C. In its prime, it controlled the point where the road from Damascus joins the highway between Nineveh and Carchemish. This location gave Harran strategic value from an early date. It is frequently mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions about 1100 BC, under the name Harranu, or "Road" (Akkadian harrānu, 'road, path, journey' ).
During the fall of the Assyrian Empire, Harran became the stronghold of its lasts king, Ashur-uballit II, being besiged and conquered by Nabopolassar of Babylon at 609 BC. Harran became part of Median Empire after the fall of Assyria, and subsequently passed to the Persian Achaemenid dynasty.
The city remained Persian untill in 331 BC when the soldiers of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great entered the city.
After the death of Alexander on 11 June 323 BC, the city was claimed by his successors: Perdiccas, Antigonus Monophthalmus and Eumenes. These visited the city, but eventually, it became part of the Asian kingdom of Seleucos I (Nicator), the Seleucid empire, and capital of a province called Osrhoene (the Greek term for the old name Urhai).
The Seleucids settled Macedonian veterans at Harran. For a century-and-a-half, the town flourished, and it became independent when the Parthian dynasty of Persia occupied Babylonia. The Parthian and Seleucid kings both needed the buffer state of Osrhoene which was part of the larger Parthian empire and had nearby Edessa as its capital. The dynasty of the Arabian Abgarides, technically a vassal of the Parthian "king of kings" ruled Osrhoene for centuries.
Carrhae was the scene of a disastrous defeat of the Roman general Crassus by the Parthians. In 53 BC. Crassus, leading an army of 50.000, conducted a campaign against Parthia. After he captured a few cities on the way, he hurried to cross the Euphrates River with hopes of receiving laurels and the title of “Emperor”. But as he drove his forces over Rakkan towards Harran, Parthian cavalry besieged his forces in a pincers movement. In the ensuing battle, the Roman army was defeated and decimated. The battle of Carrhae was the beginning of a series of border wars with Parthia for many centuries. Numismatic evidence for these wars or the corresponding peace are for instance the "Signis Receptis" issues of Augustus and the “Janum Clusit” issues of Nero.
Later Lucius Verus tried to conquer Osrhoene and initially was successful. But an epidemic made an annexation impossible. However, a victory monument was erected in Ephesus, and Carrhae/Harran is shown as one of the subject towns.
Septimius Severus finally added Osrhoene to his realms in 195. The typical conic domed houses of ancient Harran can be seen on the Arch of Septimius Severus on the Forum Romanum.
Harran was the chief home of the moon-god Sin, whose temple was rebuilt by several kings. Sin was one of the great gods of the Assurian-Babylonian pantheon.
Caracalla gave Harran the status of a colonia (214 AD) and visited the city and the temple of the moon god in April 217. Meanwhile the moon god (and sacred stones) had become a part of the Roman pantheon and the temple a place to deify the roman emperors (as the standards on both sides of the temple indicate).
Caracalla was murdered while he was on his way from Temple to the palace. If this had been arranged by Macrinus - the prefect of the Praetorian guard who was to be the new emperor – is not quite clear. On the eighth of April, the emperor and his courtiers made a brief trip to the world famous temple of the moon god. When Caracalla halted to perform natural functions, he was assassinated by one of his bodyguards, Julius Martialis, who had a private grudge against the ruler, because he had not been given the post of centurion.
In 296 AD Roman control was again interrupted when nearby Carrhae the emperor Galerius was defeated by the king Narses / the Sasanid dynasty of Persia. The Roman emperor Julianus Apostata sacrificed to the moon god in 363 AD, at the beginning of his ill-fated campaign against the Sassanid Persians. The region continued to be a battle zone between the Romans and Sassanids. It remained Roman (or Byzantine) until 639, when the city finally was captured by the Muslim armies.
At that time, the cult of Sin still existed. After the arrival of the Islam, the adherents of other religions probably went to live in the marshes of the lower Tigris and Euphrates, and are still known as Mandaeans.
The ancient city walls surrounding Harran, 4 kilometer long and 3 kilometer wide, have been repaired throughout the ages (a.o. by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in the sixth century), and large parts are still standing. The position of no less than 187 towers has been identified. Of the six gates (Aleppo gate, Anatolian, Arslanli, Mosul, Baghdad, and Rakka gate), only the first one has remained.
A citadel was built in the 14th century in place of the Temple of Sin. This lies in the south-west quarter of the ancient town. Its ruin can still be visited.
my ancient coin database
Arminius
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Cilicia, Syedra, Marcus Aurelius, Ziegler Kilikien, 121 (rev. only), unpublished?Marcus Aurelius, AD 161-180
AE 30, 14.04g
obv. AVT KAI M A - VR ANTWNINOC
Bust, draped and cuirassed, lautreate, r.
c/m AK in rectangular incus (Howgego 514) before
rev. C - V - E - DRE / WN
Ares, helmeted and wearing suit of armour, stg. l. between Dike, in long garment, stg. r., and Hermes, nude, with kerykeion in l. arm and wearing winged boots.
Ziegler, Kilikien, - (rev. same dies like #121 for Lucius Verus)
very rare, about VF/F
'A wonderful mythological type from the oracle given by Apollo to the people of Syedra. Ares, the war god and killer of men, stands bound in iron chains of Hermes and is judged for its crimes by Dike (justice). The Syedrians were told to erect a statue to this end so this could be very well a visual of the statue erected.' For more information please take a look at the thread 'Coins of mythological interest'.
Jochen
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CIRCUS MAXIMUS, TrajanÆ Sestertius (24.27g, Ø32.95mm, 5h). Rome mint. Struck AD 103-104.
Obv.: IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P laureate bust of Trajan right with aegis.
Rev.: SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI around, S C in ex., bird's-eys view on the Circus Maximus in Rome, as seen from the Forum Boarium, showing portico in foreground with eleven arched entrances and monumental gate surmounted by quadriga on right, two additional arches, each surmounted by quadriga behind the portico at both ends, the central spina adorned with tall obelisk of Rameses II at center flanked by equestrian statue of Trajan on left and shrine of Cybele on right , the two metae (turning posts) placed at the extremities; at the far side of the Circus, a curved wall incorporating a tetra-style shrine of Sol.
RIC 571 [R] and pl. x, 187 (rev. only); Cohen 546 (Fr.60); Strack 391; BMC 856; Banti 275 (4 spec.); MIR 175c and pl. 28 (citing 20 examples of this variety; same obv. die as plate 175c1; same rev. die as 175a3); RCV 3208 var. (different bust type).
ex G. Henzen (Netherlands, 2000)
The reverse of this sestertius commemorates the completion in AD 103 of a major restoration of the Circus Maximus, following a great fire that had severely damaged the famous arena in the time of the Flavian emperors. The origin of the Circus Maximus, situated in the Murcia valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills, is quite obscure. An enclosure for chariot racing, it had parallel sides and one semicircular end, all fitted with seats for spectators, and an axial rib (spina) marked at each end by turning-posts (metae) dividing the arena into two runs. At the open end were the curved stables (carceres) sufficient to accommodate twelve teams of horses. Traditionally founded by King Tarquinius Priscus, it does not seem to have become a permanent structure until 329 BC (Livy viii. 20.1). In later times, it was much embellished, notably by Augustus who erected on the spina the great Egyptian obelisk of Rameses II from Heliopolis (it now stands in the Piazza del Populo). The vast arena was frequently damaged by the fires that afflicted the imperial capital; on several occasions, there was loss of life when structural failure occurred under the weight of the huge crowds that attended the events. Trajan was himself an ardent fan of the Circus so it is scarcely surprising that he took on the task of restoring the arena. The present specimen is a good example of the rare issue that commemorated the completion of this undertaking. More than a century later (AD 213), the Emperor Caracalla issued a similar type to record his own restoration work on the Circus Maximus. The last recorded games in this celebrated arena took place under the Ostrogothic king Totila in AD 550.
Charles S
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Civic Issue under Maximinus IIAnonymous Civic Issue during the time of Maximinus II, AE Quarter Follis, c.310-312, Antioch, Officina 10
GENIO AN_TIOCHENI
Tyche, turreted and veiled, seated facing on rock, river-god Orontes swimming in front
APOLLONI-SANCTO
Apollo standing facing, head left, patera in right hand, lyre in left
I in right field
SMA in exergue
16mm x 17mm, 1.65g
RIC VI, --; Vagi 2954
purchased 09/09/2007
Note: The Civic Issues of Antioch, Alexandria and Nicomedia were thought to have been produced by Julian II when RIC VI was written, therefore the entire series is missing. This series was produced during the period of Christian persecution by Maximinus II, Diocletian and Galerius and the Antioch issues portray important local statues: the Tyche erected by Eutychides (a pupil of Lysippus), the Apollo by Bryaxis of Athens and possibly the Zeus Nikephoros of the Temple of Apollo at Daphne which Antiochos IV commissioned for his great festival of 167 BC.
Historical information from Coinage of the Roman Empire, Vol II, p.516 by David Vagi
Johnny
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Civic Issue under Maximinus II AE 14.8 mm 1.33 grams 310-312 AD
1/4 Nummus
OBV :: IOVI CONS-ERVATORI. Zeus sitting left on throne holding scepter in left and glode in right hands
REV :: VICTOR-IA AVGG. Nike walking left holding wreath in right hand, palm in left. Delta in left , Epsilon in right fields
EX :: unknown
Minted in Antioch ?
Vagi 2955, Sear ( under Julian II) 4080
purchased 04/2008
Note: The Civic Issues of Antioch, Alexandria and Nicomedia were thought to have been produced by Julian II when RIC VI was written, therefore the entire series is missing. This series was produced during the period of Christian persecution by Maximinus II, Diocletian and Galerius and the Antioch issues portray important local statues: the Tyche erected by Eutychides (a pupil of Lysippus), the Apollo by Bryaxis of Athens and possibly the Zeus Nikephoros of the Temple of Apollo at Daphne which Antiochos IV commissioned for his great festival of 167 BC.
Historical information taken from Coinage of the Roman Empire, Vol II, p.516 by David Vagi
Johnny
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Conder Token: Middlesex 63Obv: MONUMENT ERECTED 1677, The Monument of London.
Rev: LONDON PENNY TOKEN, the crest of London within a wreath.
Edge: Plain
Note: Part of Kempson’s extensive series of London landmarks.
Penny Conder Token
Dalton & Hamer: Middlesex 63Matt Inglima
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Constantinople CONSSConstantine had altogether more ambitious plans. Having restored the unity of the empire, now overseeing the progress of major governmental reforms and sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church, Constantine was well aware that Rome had become an unsatisfactory capital for several reasons. Located in central Italy, Rome lay too far from the eastern imperial frontiers, and hence also from the legions and the Imperial courts. Moreover, Rome offered an undesirable playground for disaffected politicians; it also suffered regularly from flooding and from malaria.
It seemed impossible to many that the capital could be moved. Nevertheless, Constantine identified the site of Byzantium as the correct place: a city where an emperor could sit, readily defended, with easy access to the Danube or the Euphrates frontiers, his court supplied from the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops of Roman Asia, his treasuries filled by the wealthiest provinces of the empire.
Constantine laid out the expanded city, dividing it into 14 regions, and ornamenting it with great public works worthy of a great imperial city. Yet initially Constantinople did not have all the dignities of Rome, possessing a proconsul, rather than a prefect of the city. Furthermore, it had no praetors, tribunes or quaestors. Although Constantinople did have senators, they held the title clarus, not clarissimus, like those of Rome. Constantinople also lacked the panoply of other administrative offices regulating the food supply, police, statues, temples, sewers, aqueducts or other public works. The new program of building was carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors and tiles were taken wholesale from the temples of the empire and moved to the new city. Similarly, many of the greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon to be seen in its squares and streets. The emperor stimulated private building by promising householders gifts of land from the imperial estates in Asiana and Pontica, and on 18 May 332 he announced that, as in Rome, free distributions of food would be made to citizens. At the time the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117 distribution points around the city.
Constantinople was a Greek Orthodox Christian city, lying in the most Christianised part of the Empire. Justinian ordered the pagan temples of Byzantium to be deconstructed, and erected the splendid Church of the Holy Wisdom, Sancta Sophia (also known as Hagia Sophia in Greek), as the centrepiece of his Christian capital. He oversaw also the building of the Church of the Holy Apostles, and that of Hagia Irene.
Constantine laid out anew the square at the middle of old Byzantium, naming it the Augusteum. Sancta Sophia lay on the north side of the Augusteum. The new senate-house (or Curia) was housed in a basilica on the east side. On the south side of the great square was erected the Great Palace of the emperor with its imposing entrance, the Chalke, and its ceremonial suite known as the Palace of Daphne. Located immediately nearby was the vast Hippodrome for chariot-races, seating over 80,000 spectators, and the Baths of Zeuxippus (both originally built in the time of Septimius Severus). At the entrance at the western end of the Augusteum was the Milion, a vaulted monument from which distances were measured across the Eastern Empire.
From the Augusteum a great street, the Mese, led, lined with colonnades. As it descended the First Hill of the city and climbed the Second Hill, it passed on the left the Praetorium or law-court. Then it passed through the oval Forum of Constantine where there was a second senate-house, then on and through the Forum of Taurus and then the Forum of Bous, and finally up the Sixth Hill and through to the Golden Gate on the Propontis. The Mese would be seven Roman miles long to the Golden Gate of the Walls of Theodosius.
Constantine erected a high column in the middle of the Forum, on the Second Hill, with a statue of himself at the top, crowned with a halo of seven rays and looking towards the rising sun.
RIC VII Constantinople 61 C1
ecoli
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Cr 519/2 Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus AR Denariusc. 41 b.c.e. Greek coastal mint or possibly a Shipboard mint
o: Bearded head of Lucius (?) Ahenobarbus r., AHENOBAR before
r: CN.DOMITIVS.IMP Ship's prow r., w/ military trophy
HCRI 339 Domitia 21
3.79 gm.
A flip-flopper of exquisitely flexible principles, Gnaeus salvaged his family’s future by deserting to Octavian days before the battle of Actium, paving his posthumous way to becoming Emperor Nero’s great-grandfather. Suetonius says that Gnaeus “omnibus gentis suae procul dubio praeferendum” -- was “undoubtedly the best of his entire extended family, ever”. Considering that the entire extended family was considered remarkably depraved, Nero’s father most of all, that is faint praise indeed.
Lucky he was also to have previously commanded the "Liberators' " fleet and at sea instead of standing in the mud at Philippi, as the trophy presumably represents his irrelevant victory over Domitius Calvinus in October 42. To my eye, the trophy is not distinctly nautical standing alone and perhaps the entire design reflects a naval trophy that he erected on a friendly shore point.
His allies Brutus and Cassius having committed suicide, Gnaeus took his 72 ships and two legions a-pirating rather successfully for nearly a decade. Thinking he had made a good pile of stolen booty but that the tide was turning (indeed, he also struck an aureus), he then struck a deal with Antonius (an add-on to the Sextus Pompeius work-out) and became consul for 32. Dry land politics being more fickle than piracy, he soon had to choose between Octavian and Antonius and headed east. There, he suddenly became a Model Virtuous Roman in antagonism to Cleopatra, persuading no one, and finally rowed over to Octavian, who accepted him rather than having Agrippa treat him to a game of "walk the plank". Yet he died a few days later of “fever”, which tended to happen to temporarily incapacitated power brokers recuperating near Octavian (see my Cr. 449/2 Pansa) or Livia Drusilla (see, "I, Claudius"). His defection and various marriage connections (and I would like to think a map to his buried pirate treasure, but wrong movie ...) kept his descendants comfortably depraved for almost 100 years.
This denarius is scarce, and particularly scarce with anything other than a horrible obverse. It perhaps depicts pater Lucius, who also ran afoul of Caesar and Antonius (see my post of Cr. 448/3 L. Hostilius Saserna). This specimen shares the weak obverse strike seen on most, yet is a slight bit less worn and less marked than many. On the better-struck coins, whichever Ahenobarbus this is can be seen to sport a scraggly beard, presumably to cue the "red beard" cognomen, but the portraits on almost all dies are quite distinctively coarse. The reverse, which is the main appeal of this specimen, is much more carefully engraved, with distinct waves, "eye", oar box and trophy. The keel and "beak"/rostrum are clear, and the prow-stem is outlined and shows internal beam-structure.
PMah
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Crawford 124/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, Meta Series, AR VictoriatusRome, The Republic.
Meta Series, 206-195 BCE.
AR Victoriatus (3.02g; 19mm; 5h).
Rome Mint.
Obverse: Laureate head of Jupiter, facing right.
Reverse: Victory standing toward right, crowing trophy with wreath; meta in field between; ROMA in exergue.
References: Crawford 124/1; Sydenham 259 (R5); BMCRR 494-5; RBW 569 (this coin).
Provenance: Ex RBW Collection [NAC 61 (2011) Lot 563]; bought from Charles Hersh in March 1998; Lawrence Collection [Glendining (7 Dec 1950) Lot 37]; Haeberlin Collection [Cahn/Hess (17 Jul 1933) Lot 310 (part)].
Shortly after the introduction of the denarius coinage, the Romans began adding symbols and letters to their coins. This Victoriatus contains a meta symbol on the reverse. A meta was a tall, conical, turning post. There was a meta at either end of the central divider of the Circus Maximus, denoting the turning point for chariot races. These turning posts probably served a critical function as the dirt and dust clouds from the chariots and their teams likely obscured participants’ visibility. During the Flavian period (nearly 300 years after this coin was struck) the Meta Sudans, so named because of its water feature, was erected in Rome as a turning point for triumphal processions.
Carausius
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Crawford 20/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC - AR DidrachmRome, The Republic.
Anonymous, 269-266 BCE.
AR Didrachm (7.28g; 21mm).
Uncertain mint.
Obv: Diademed head of youthful Hercules facing right, with lion skin and club over shoulder.
Rev: She-Wolf suckling the twins, Romulus & Remus; ROMANO in exergue.
References: Crawford 20/1; Sydenham 6; BMCRR (Romano-Campanian) 28-33.
Provenance: Ex Dr. Walter F. Stoeklin Collection [Nomos AG eSale 9 (25 Mar 2018) Lot 2]; Adolph Hess Auction (19 Dec 1933), Lot 3.
The earliest Roman Didrachm coinage commenced in the late fourth century BCE. While earliest didrachms bore the inscription ROMANO, they were not struck in Rome and didn’t really circulate in Rome! The earliest didrachms were likely produced in Naples or some other nearby mint. Kenneth Harl, in "Coinage in the Roman Economy" theorizes that Roman didrachms were likely valued at 10 asses and were possibly called “denarii” in their day.
This coin is from the large, third issue of didrachms produced around the time of the Pyrrhic War, circa 269 BCE. In "Natural History", Pliny wrote that the Romans first struck silver coins “in the 485th year of the city, when Q. Ogulnius and C. Fabius were consuls, five years before the First Punic War [=269 BC].” (NH 33.42-44) Some surmise that Pliny’s now infamous text refers to the above coin type. Pliny’s text confounded for generations the determination by Roman numismatists of the introduction date for the denarius, with many scholars interpreting his statement as evidence for an early introduction; that “literal” theory having been disproven by Thomsen’s analysis in “Early Roman Coinage” and the indisputable evidence of the destruction level finds at Morgantina.
In "Roman Republican Coinage", Michael Crawford assigned this type to the Rome mint, but Crawford turned non-committal regarding the mint in his later book, Coinage and Money Under the Roman Republic. Previous scholars (Babelon, Grueber, Sydenham) had attributed this series to Campania. The reverse bears the first depiction of the she-wolf and suckling twins on a Roman coin, representing the mythical founding of Rome. The emblematic nature of this scene likely influenced the mint assignment by some researchers. Indeed, subsequent coins bearing this scene have similarly been assigned to Rome by some authors, perhaps without justification, based on the “Roman” character of the scene – notably the Eagle/Wolf and Twins AE Sextans (Crawford 39/3) of the semi-libral reduction in 217-215 BCE, which I believe is likely a Campanian product. There would be countless more such depictions of the wolf and twins on Roman coins during the ensuing centuries [Crawford 183; Crawford 235/1; Antoninus Pius; Maxentius; Constantine “commemoratives”, etc.]. According to Pliny, Q. Ogulnius was a consul when this coin was likely first produced, and the reverse may allude to the wolf and twins statue erected in Rome by Ogulnius’ grandfather and great uncle, the brothers Quintus and Gnaeus Ogulnius, in 296 BCE.
Carausius
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Crawford 417/1a, Roman Republic, Rome mint, moneyers L. Aemilius Lepidus Paullus and L. Scribonius Libo, 62 BC., AR Denarius.Roman Republic, Rome mint, moneyers L. Aemilius Lepidus Paullus and L. Scribonius Libo, 62 BC.,
AR Denarius (18-20 mm / 3,72 g),
Obv.: [P]AVLLVS. LEPIDVS - CONCORD head of Concordia r., wearing veil and diadem.
Rev.: PVTEAL SCRIBON / LIBO , Puteal Scribonianum (Scribonian well, the "Puteal Scribonianum" well in the Forum Romanum near the Arch of Fabius), decorated with garland and two lyres, hammer at base.
Crawf. 417/1a ; Syd. 927 ; Bab. / Seaby Aemilia 11 ; Kestner 3422 ; BMC Rome 3383 ; CNR Aemilia 62 .
Rare
A puteal was a classical wellhead, round or sometimes square, set round a well opening to keep people from falling in. Such well heads (putealia) might be of marble, enriched with bas-reliefs. - The puteal is on the reverse of the coin adorned with garlands and two lyres. It is generally stated that there were two putealia in the Roman forum; but C. F. Hermann, who has carefully examined all the passages in the ancient writers relating to this matter (Ind. Lect. Marburg. 1840), comes to the conclusion that there was only one such puteal at Rome. It was in the forum, near the Arcus Fabianus, and was dedicated in very ancient times either on account of the whetstone of the Augur Navius (cf. Liv. I.36), or because the spot had been struck by lightning. It was subsequently repaired and re-dedicated by Scribonius Libo, who had been commanded to examine the state of the sacred places. Libo erected in its neighbourhood a tribunal for the praetor, in consequence of which the place was, of course, frequented by persons who had law-suits, such as money-lenders and the like.
The Puteal Scribonianum (Scribonian Puteal) or Puteal Libonis (Puteal of Libo), building in the Forum at Rome, dedicated or restored by a member of the Libo family, perhaps the praetor of 204 BC, or the tribune of the people in 149 BC. In its vicinity the praetor's tribunal, removed from the comitium in the 2nd century BC, held its sittings, which led to the place becoming the haunt of litigants, money-lenders and business people. According to ancient authorities, the Puteal Libonis was the name given to an erection (or enclosure) on a spot which had been struck by lightning; it was so called from its resemblance to the stone curb or low enclosure round a well (puteus) that was between the temples of Castor and Vesta, near the Porticus Julia and the Arcus Fabiorum (arch of the Fabii), but no remains have been discovered. The idea that an irregular circle of travertine blocks, found near the temple of Castor, formed part of the puteal is now abandoned. See Horace, Sat. ii.6.35, Epp. i.19.8; Cicero, Pro Sestio, 8; for the well-known coin of Lucius Scribonius Libo, representing the puteal of Libo, which rather resembles a cippus (sepulchral monument) or an altar, with laurel wreaths, two lyres and a pair of pincers or tongs below the wreaths (perhaps symbolical of Vulcan as forger of lightning), see C. Hulsen, The Roman Forum (Eng. trans. by J. B. Carter, 1906), p. 150.
L. Scribonius Libo, was the father-in-law of Sextus Pompey, the son of Pompey the Great. On the breaking out of the civil war in 49, he sided with Pompey, and was given command of Etruria. Shortly afterwards he accompanied Pompey to Greece, and was actively engaged in the war that ensued. On the death of Bibulus (48) he had the given command of the Pompeian fleet. In the civil wars following Caesar's death, he followed the fortunes of his son-in-law Sextus Pompey. In 40, Octavian married his sister Scribonia, and this marriage was followed by a peace between the triumvirs and Pompey (39). When the war was renewed in 36, Libo for a time supported Pompey, but, seeing his cause hopeless, he deserted him in the following year. In 34, he was consul with Mark Antony.
my ancient coin database
Arminius
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Crawford 419/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, AR DenariusRome, The Republic.
M. Lepidus, 61 BCE.
AR Denarius (3.97g; 20mm).
Rome Mint.
Obverse: Laureate and diademed female head, facing right; palm branch behind.
Reverse: Horseman advancing toward right with trophy over l shoulder; AN. XV. P.H.O.C.S. around; M.LEPIDVS in exergue.
References: Crawford 419/1c; Sydenham 830a; BMCRR 3644; Aemilia 22.
Provenance: Ex Fernandez Coll. [Aureo & Calico Alba Longa Auction (7 Nov 2018) Lot 85]; Leo Benz Collection [Lanz 88 (23 Nov 1988) Lot 118]; Künst und Münzen 18 (June 1978), Lot 250.
This coin was produced by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, later triumvir with Octavian and Antony, during his early political career. The reverse celebrates the Second Punic War heroism of his ancestor, also named M. Aemilius Lepidus, who killed an enemy and saved a citizen at the age of 15 and in whose honor a statue was erected in Rome. That statue may be depicted on this coin. The reverse inscription abbreviates “AN[norum] XV PR[ogressus] H[ostem] O[ccidit], C[ivem] S[ervavit]” (Aged 15, he killed an enemy and saved a citizen.)
Carausius
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Crawford 518/2, ROMAN IMPERATORIAL, Octavian, AR DenariusRome. The Imperators.
Octavian, 44-27 BCE.
AR Denarius (3.67g; 17mm; 11h).
Military mint travelling with Octavian, 41BCE.
Obverse: C•CAESAR•III•VIR R•P•C; Octavian’s bare head facing right.
Reverse: POPVL IVSSV; Equestrian statue (Octavian?) left.
References: Crawford 518/2; HCRI 299; Sydenham 1317 (R5); BMCRR Gaul 79-80; Julia 97; Banti & Simonetti 701/2 (this coin illustrated).
Provenance: Ex Charles Chamberlain Collection [CNG eSale 509 (9 Feb 2022) Lot 624]; Andrew McCabe Collection [Italo Vecchi Ltd. 17 (15 Dec 1999), Lot 804]; acquired privately from Baldwin’s in 1992; Barone Dr. Pompeo Bonazzi di Sannicandro (1876-1956) Collection [Rodolfo Ratto (23 Jan 1924) Lot 1444].
This type is scarce and generally comes very poorly struck or from worn dies. Obverse die links prove that this type was struck together with the Crawford 518/1 denarii struck by Balbus as Propraetor (see adjacent coin by Balbus in this gallery). Crawford reports 11 obverse dies and 12 reverse dies; Schaefer RRDP has 24 obverse dies for BOTH 518/1 (Balbus type) and 518/2 and 15 reverse dies for 518/2. Based on an inscription, published by Orelli, from a Vatican plinth containing the words “IVSSV POPVLI” (“by order of the people”) originally associated with a statue of Julius Caesar, Babelon thought the reverse depicted a statue of Julius Caesar dedicated in 42BCE at the time of Caesar’s apotheosis. Grueber disagreed, pointing out that since most public statues were erected by order of the Roman people, a similar inscription could apply to a statue of Octavian. He assigned the reverse type as depicting an equestrian statue of Octavian dedicated in 41BCE after the Battle of Philippi. Sear agrees with Grueber on this point, while Crawford merely describes the statue as a “Galloping equestrian statute” without specific attribution.
This coin was part of the important Bonazzi Collection, which was sold anonymously in two parts by Rodolfo Ratto in the mid-1920s. Bonazzi began collecting about 1910 and quickly assembled a broad collection of Roman Republican coins in a very short time.
Carausius
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Egypt, Alexandria, Hadrian, Dattari 7901Hadrian, AD 117-138
AE33, drachm, 22.10g
Alexandria, AD 133/134 (year 18)
obv. AVT KAIC TRAIAN - ADRIANOC CEB
Bust, draped and cuirassed, laureate, r.
rev. Agathodaimon, bearded, erected r., and Uraeus-Snake, erected l., confronted;
Agathodaimon, representing Osiris, wearing shkent (double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt) and
holding kerykeion with his tail; Uraeus-Snake, representing Isis, wearing crown of Isis (sundisk
between horns) and holding sistrum.
across field L IH (year 18)
Ref.: Dattari 7901
Very rare, VF
Thanks to Salem!
For more information please look at the thread 'Coins of mythological interest'.
Jochen
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Egypt, Alexandria, Hadrian, Milne 984Hadrian, AD 117-138
AE 22 (tetradrachm), 11.9g
Alexandria, AD 120/1 (year 5)
obv. AVT KAI TRAI - ADRIANOC [CEB]
Bust, draped on l. shoulder?, laureate, r.
rev. Agathodaemon snake, wearing shkent, erected r., a coil behind head, holding unwinged kerykeion l.
in l. and r. field [L] - E (year 5)
Milne 984; Dattari 1546 var; Geissen 805 var. (have winged kerykeion and grain-ears too)
about VF
Jochen
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Faustina Jr. , Wife of Marcus Aurelius, Mother of Lucilla, and CommodusThe daughter, wife and mothers of emperors and empresses, Faustina II was born around 130 A.D. to Antoninus Pius and Faustina I. She was married to her cousin Marcus Aurelius in 145 A.D. In 146 A.D., she gave birth to the first of many children. To celebrate this occasion she was given the Title Augusta, which technically made her superior in rank then her husband. Faustina II was a devoted wife and mother, and accompanied her husband on all his military campaigns. Her son Commodus went on to became emperor after his father’s death, and her daughter Lucilla became Augusta when she married Lucius Verus in 164 A.D. She died at the city of Halala in Asia Minor in 175 A.D. plagued by many baseless rumors about her infidelity. She was deified soon after and a grand temple was erected to her in the city where she died.Dumanyu2
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Fecunditas, goddess of fertilityFaustina Junior, wife of Marcus Aurelius. Augusta, 147-175/6 CE.
AR Denarius (19mm, 3.16g), Rome mint, 161-175 CE.
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, a double band of pearls around her head.
Rev: FECVNDITAS, Fecunditas standing right, holding scepter & child.
RIC 677; RSC 99; BMC 91; Sear 5252; Cohen 99.
Although many coin reference books classify Fecunditas as a personification of fertility rather than as an actual deity, Fecunditas was recognized as a Roman divinity by Nero, who erected a statue to her. Tacitus notes that upon the birth of Claudia Neronis, the senate decreed the construction of a temple of Fertility to be built at Antium.
Fecunditas is always portrayed as a female figure holding a child, or children and often a scepter, cornucopia, palm branch or caduceus. Sometimes the children are depicted standing at her feet. Coins portraying her usually advertise the fertility of the imperial family who issued the coin.
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France, Glanum - Tomb MonumentOutside the walls of Glanum (now Saint-Rémy-en-Provence) stands this wonderful monument. It was erected sometime between 30-20 B.C. The inscription reads: SEX(tus) M(arcus) L(ucius) IVLIEI C(aii) •F(ilii) PARENTIBVS SVEIS (Sextus, Marcus and Lucius Iulius, sons of Caius, to their parents), and shows interesting battle scenes.
Syltorian
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France. Statue of Louis XV in BordeauxFeuardent 9221
Jeton, minted in Nuremberg; brass, 24.05 mm, max., 0°
Obv: LUD • XVI D • G -- FR • N • REX, bust of Louis XVI facing left.
Rev: OPTIMO -- PRINCIPI (= to the best of princes), equestrian statue of Louis XV at Bordeaux, by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne II (erected 1743) on pedestal, 1792 in exergue.Stkp
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France. Statue of Louis XV in BordeaxFeuardent 9219 var.; Hennin 177 Plate 20 var.; Fayolle
Jeton, silvered brass; minted in 1790 by Johann Christian Reich (active 1758-1814) in Nuremburg; 24 mm., 0°, dated 1790
Obv: LVD • XVI • D • G • -- FR • N • REX, bust of Louis XVI facing left.
Rev: OPTIMO -- PRINCIPI (= to the best of princes), equestrian statue of Louis XV at Bordeaux, by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne II (erected 1743), 1790 in exergue.Stkp
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France. Statue of Louis XV in BordeaxFeuardent 9213 var.; Hennin 182 var.; Carde 19; Fayolle 16-17, 19 var.
Jeton, minted in Nuremberg in 1744; brass, 24 mm, 180°
Obv: LUD • XV D G • FR• -- ET • NAV • REX •, bust of Louis XV facing left.
Rev: OPTIMO -- PRINCIPI (= to the best of princes), equestrian statue of Louis XV at Bordeaux, by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne II (erected 1743), MDCCXLIIII (= 1744) in exergue.Stkp
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France. Statue of Louis XV in BordeaxFeuardent 9213 var.; Hennin 182 var.; Carde 19; Fayolle 16-17, 19 var.
Jeton, minted in Nuremberg in 1744; brass, 24 mm, 180°
Obv: LUD • XV • D • G • FR• -- ET • NAV • REX •, bust of Louis XV facing left.
Rev: OPTIMO -- PRINCIPI (= to the best of princes), equestrian statue of Louis XV at Bordeaux, by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne II (erected 1743) on taller pedestal, MDCCXLIIII (= 1744) in exergue, dog[?] mark beneath. Stkp
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France. Statue of Louis XV in BordeaxFeuardent 9216 var., Carde 43
Jeton, minted in 1776 by Johann Christian Reich (active 1758-1814) in Nuremburg; brass, 24 mm, 0°
Obv: LUD XVI D G FR -- ET NAV REX •, bust of Louis XVI facing left. R below.
Rev: OPTIMO -- PRINCIPI (= to the best of princes), equestrian statue of Louis XV at Bordeaux, by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne II (erected 1743) on pedestal, MDCCLXXVI (= 1776) in exergue. Stkp
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France. Statue of Louis XV in BordeaxFeuardent 9212; Fayolle 14-15
Jeton, minted in Nuremberg in 1743; brass, 23.84 mm, max., 180°
Obv: LUD • XV • D G • FR• -- ET • NAV • REX •, bust of Louis XV facing left.
Rev: OPTIMO -- PRINCIPI (= to the best of princes), equestrian statue of Louis XV at Bordeaux, by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne II (erected 1743) on pedestal, MDCCXLIII (= 1743) in exergue.Stkp
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GALLIENVS AVG / ABVNDANTIA AVG antoninianus (close to 265-267 A.D.) Obv.: [GA]LLIENVS [AVG], head of Gallienus radiate right
Rev.: [A]BVNDANT[IA AVG], Abundantia, draped, standing right, emptying cornucopiae. Left field: B.
d irregular 16+ –18mm, 3.03g, die axis 1h (medal alignment), material: bronze/copper-based alloy supposedly with some silver.
Authority and portrait: Gallienus (joint reign 253-, sole reign 260-268). Mint: Rome.
AVG = Augustus. ABVNDANTIA AVG(usti)= the Abundance (plenty) of the Emperor. This allegorical divinity had neither temples nor altars erected to her honour, but she appears on many coins, medals and monuments. She figures as a handsome woman, clothed in the stola, holding a cornucopiae, the mouth of which she holds towards the ground, and lets the contents fall in seemingly careless profusion. In propaganda it serves to mark the liberality exercised by the Emperor towards his soldiers and subjects, in his distribution to them of portions of the Aerarium publicum, or public treasure. B in left field probably means officina 2.
RIC V-1 Rome 157; Goebl 573-574; Sear 10164.
ID is straightforward, Abundantia standing right emptying cornucopiae corresponds only to RIC Rome 157, usually with field mark B. There are usual variations (bust bare, cuirassed, draped or just head, in some rare cases left). Mintmark is usually left, but cases are mentioned of it being right or in exergue, sometimes it is missing. There are both smaller 17-19mm types, and larger, up to 23mm.Yurii P
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German Notgeld: Nürnberg – Fürther StrassenbahnCity: Nürnberg – Fürther Strassenbahn
State: Bavaria
Denomination: 20 Pfennig
Obverse: NÜRNBERG – FÜRTHER STRASSENBAHN, 20 PFENNIG within circle in center.
Reverse: WASSER SPEIER, a view of the Triton Fountain in Nuremberg, erected 1689 by Johann Leonhard Bromig.
Date: No Date
Grade: UNC
Catalog #:Matt Inglima
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Germany, Trier - Porta NigraThe gate dates back to a time (about A.D. 180) when the Romans often erected public buildings of huge stone blocks (here, the biggest weigh up to six metric tons).
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Gordian I Africanus / AthenaGordian I Africanus, Egypt, Alexandria. A.D. 238. BI tetradrachm (22 mm, 12.47 g, 12 h). RY 1.
O: A K M AN ΓOPΔIANOC CЄM AΦ ЄVCЄB, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian I right
R: Athena seated left, holding Nike and spear; in left field, date (L A).
- Köln 2600; cf. Dattari (Savio) 4656 (legend); Kampmann & Ganschow 68.6., Ex Coin Galleries (16 July 2003), 264.
Perhaps the most reluctant of Emperors, Gordian I (Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus Augustus) was Roman Emperor for one month with his son Gordian II in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. Caught up in a rebellion against the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, he was defeated by forces loyal to Maximinus before committing suicide.
According to Edward Gibbon:
"An iniquitous sentence had been pronounced against some opulent youths of [Africa], the execution of which would have stripped them of far the greater part of their patrimony. (…) A respite of three days, obtained with difficulty from the rapacious treasurer, was employed in collecting from their estates a great number of slaves and peasants blindly devoted to the commands of their lords, and armed with the rustic weapons of clubs and axes. The leaders of the conspiracy, as they were admitted to the audience of the procurator, stabbed him with the daggers concealed under their garments, and, by the assistance of their tumultuary train, seized on the little town of Thysdrus, and erected the standard of rebellion against the sovereign of the Roman empire. (...) Gordianus, their proconsul, and the object of their choice [as emperor], refused, with unfeigned reluctance, the dangerous honour, and begged with tears that they should suffer him to terminate in peace a long and innocent life, without staining his feeble age with civil blood. Their menaces compelled him to accept the Imperial purple, his only refuge indeed against the jealous cruelty of Maximin (...)."
Because of the absence of accurate dating in the literary sources, the precise chronology of these events has been the subject of much study. The present consensus among historians assigns the following dates (all in the year 238 A.D.) to these events: March 22nd Gordian I, II were proclaimed Emperors in Africa; April 1st or 2nd they were recognized at Rome; April 12th they were killed (after reigning twenty days); April 22nd Pupienus and Balbinus were proclaimed Emperors; June 24th Maximinus and his son were assassinated outside of Aquileia; July 29th Pupienus and Balbinus were assassinated and Gordian III proclaimed as sole Augustus.Nemonater
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Great Britain, Hanover. Victoria and Prince Albert WM Medal.Birmingham, AD 1851. Dies by Allen & Moore. QUEEN VICTORIA & PR: ALBERT, jugate busts of Albert and Victoria to left, within ornate wreathed frame / THE INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION, view of the Crystal Palace, LONDON, 1851 above, PROPOSED BY H. R. H. PRINCE ALBERT, DESIGNED BY JOSEPH PAXTON ESQ. F. L. S., ERECTED BY FOX, HENDERSON & Co., LENGTH 1848 FEET, WIDTH 456 FEET, HEIGHT OF PRINCIPAL ROOF 66 FEET, HEIGHT OF TRANSEPT 108 FEET, GLAZED SURFACE 900,000 SUP FEET, OCCUPIES 18 ACRES OF GROUND, ESTIMATED VALUE £150,000, in ten lines below. BHM 2419; Eimer 1462. 39.35g, 51mm, 12h.
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Greece, Delphi - The Charioteer of DelphiThe life-size statue of a chariot driver was found in 1896 at the Sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. It is now in the Delphi Archaeological Museum.
The statue was erected at Delphi in 474 BC, to commemorate the victory of a chariot team in the Pythian Games, which were held at Delphi every four years in honor of Pythean Apollo.
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Greece, Delphi - The Charioteer of DelphiThe life-size statue of a chariot driver was found in 1896 at the Sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. It is now in the Delphi Archaeological Museum.
The statue was erected at Delphi in 474 BC, to commemorate the victory of a chariot team in the Pythian Games, which were held at Delphi every four years in honor of Pythean Apollo.
The beauty of this work is breathtaking.
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Greece, Delphi - The Head of the Charioteer of DelphiThe life-size statue of a chariot driver was found in 1896 at the Sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. It is now in the Delphi Archaeological Museum.
The statue was erected at Delphi in 474 BC, to commemorate the victory of a chariot team in the Pythian Games, which were held at Delphi every four years in honor of Pythean Apollo.
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HadrianRoman Empire
Hadrian
(Reign as 14th Emperor of the Roman Empire 117-138AD)
(b. 76, d. 138AD)
Obverse: IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIANVS AVG P M TR P COS III, Laureate bust of Hadrian facing right
Reverse: RELIQVA VETERA HS. NOVIES MILL. ABOLITA, Lictor standing facing left, fasces in left hand, lighting a heap of bonds with a torch in his right, three citizens facing him
Orichalcum Sestertius
Minted in Rome 119-121 AD
This design commemorated Hadrian's forgiveness of debts early in his reign. He canceled the arrears of taxes due by individuals from Rome, Italy, and the provinces, for a total of 900 million sestertii and over a period of 16 years. The ceremony took place on the forum where a monument was erected to commemorate the event.
Translations:
IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIANVS AVG P M TR P COS III=Imperator(Commander-in-Chief) Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, Pontifex Maximus(Greatest Priest,) Tribune of the Plebs, Consul for the 3rd time
RELIQVA VETERA HS. NOVIES MILL. ABOLITA=nine times a hundred thousand sestertii of outstanding debts cancelled
The legend RELIQVA VETERA HS NOVIES MILL ABOLITA literally translates to “old receipts in the amount of nine times a hundred thousand sestertii cancelled." The HS is a standard abbreviation for sestertii and, depending upon its context, it can mean a single sestertius, a unit of one thousand sestertii, or a unit of one hundred thousand sestertii. Novies means "nine times" and applies to the sestertius as a unit of one thousand sestertii. Considering the monumental inscription, the HS in the legend of this sestertius should be interpreted with the thousand, or mille, understood. Thus, the figure should be increased to 900 million sestertii, equaling the sum named on Hadrian’s monumental inscription.
Orichalcum=Brass
Reference: RIC 592aSphinx357
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Herod I (37-4BC) Hendin 501 TJC 66Lepton, 11x13mm, 0.70g.
Obverse: Single cornucopia, BACIL/HRWD in dotted circle.
Reverse: Eagle standing R, pellet in L field, in dotted circle.
Hendin 501
Treasury of Jewish Coins 66.
The eagle was doubtless intended as a Jewish, rather than Roman, symbol, being one of the animals supporting YHVH's throne in Ezekiel. It probably relates to the golden eagle erected by Herod over the Temple gate. How long this stood is uncertain, but in his last year, as his power weakened, it became the centre of a riot which ended in its destruction as an idolatrous image. There is no record of any protest against the coins.Robert_Brenchley
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I. MINUCIUS C.F. AUGURINUS AR DENARIUSOBVERSE: Head of Roma right, star behind
REVERSE: TI MINVCI C F on left, RO-MA above, AVGVRINI on right; 2 togate figures, one holding a simpulum, the other a lituus, standing by statue on column, grain ears on either side of the column
Rome, 134 BC
3.86g, 17mm
Cr243/1, Syd 494, Minucia 9
The reverse refers to a bronze monument erected outside of Portia Trigemina (at Rome) to L. Minucius Augurinus for his distribution of corn to the common people at a low price. The column and statue (a modius with corn ears) was erected at public expense some time after. Undoubtedly there are subtle issues to this reference that did not survive the passage of time.Legatus
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ISLANDS off CARIA. Rhodes AR DidrachmCirca 229-205 BC. AR Didrachm (6.68gm, 20mm, 11h). Tharsytas, magistrate. Ashton 215; SNG Keckman 550; SNG Copenhagen 756. Obverse: Radiate head of Helios facing slightly right. Reverse: Rose with bud to right; ΘAPΣYTAΣ above; to left, eagle standing right on fulmen. Lovely strike on a nice full flan. High relief elegant dies. Choice EF. Toned.
Ex Pars Coins
The facing head of the sun god Helios on later coins of Rhodes represent the famous statue in antiquity known as the Colossus of Rhodes. It was built in the 3rd century B.C. and took 12 years to complete. It stood at almost 100 feet tall and was one of the tallest statues in the world until it was toppled down by an earthquake around 226 B.C. The statue was erected to commemorate the defeat or withdrawal of the diadoch Demetrios Poliorketes after failing to take the besieged city. The reverse shows the iconic rose which served as a pun to the name of the city, in this case, the Greek word “rhodon” for rose. It is interesting to note that some of the facing head designs on the coins have a peculiar orientation. When looking closely to the head on this particular coin, the viewer seems to be looking at the face from below. It is tempting to assume that when this coin was minted, the Colossus was still standing and hadn’t yet been toppled down by the earthquake. This could be the actual likeness of the face of the statue while it was still standing. If the presumption is correct, we could date this coin to around 229-226 B.C.
Jason T
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Italy, Rome, Arch of ConstantineThis is the Triumphal Arch of Constantine in Rome. Erected in 315 AD, it was one of the last monumental buildings erected before the capitol was moved to Constantinople and is still impressive today. It commemorates Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in AD 312.
It is thought much of the sculptural decoration consists of reliefs and statues removed from earlier triumphal monuments dedicated to Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138) and Marcus Aurelius (161–180).Ron C2
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Italy, Rome, Arch of ConstantineThis is the Triumphal Arch of Constantine in Rome. Erected in 315 AD, it was one of the last monumental buildings erected before the capitol was moved to Constantinople and is still impressive today. It commemorates Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in AD 312.
It is thought much of the sculptural decoration consists of reliefs and statues removed from earlier triumphal monuments dedicated to Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138) and Marcus Aurelius (161–180).Ron C2
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Italy, Rome, Arch of Septimius SeverusThe Arch of Septimius Severus was erected in 203 A.D. to commemorate the Parthian victories of Septimius Severus and his sons Caracalla and Geta in their campaigns against the Parthians of 194-195 A.D. and 197–199 A.D.
Interestingly, Caracalla invoked damnatio memoriae on Geta after he had his younger brother killed and Geta's name was removed from the Arch, though it's still faintly visible today. Ron C2
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Italy, Rome, Arch of TitusThe Arch of Titus, on the Via Sacra, Rome, just to the south-east of the Roman Forum, was completed by Domitian in 96 A.D. to commemorate Titus' victories, including the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Arch of Titus has provided the general model for many of the triumphal arches erected since the 16th century—perhaps most famously it is the inspiration for the 1806 Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, completed in 1836.J. B.
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Italy, Rome, Arch of TitusThe Arch of Titus was erected in 81 AD by Domitian shortly after the death of Titus to commemorate his consecratio and the victory of Titus together with their father, Vespasian, over the Jewish rebellion in Judaea.
The Arch if notable for the menorah depicted on the arch, one of the best period depictions of the artifact from the Jewish temple. Ron C2
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Italy, Rome, Column of Antoninus Pius, Cortile della Pigna, Vatican MuseumsAbove are the four sides of the base of the Column of Antoninus Pius (Columna Antonini Pii) which was erected in the Campus Martius in memory of Antoninus Pius by Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus c.A.D.158 on the twentieth anniversary of his reign. Constructed of red granite, the column was 14.75 metres high and 1.90m in diameter, unlike the otherwise similar column of Trajan it had no decorating reliefs. The masons' inscription shows that it was quarried out in A.D.106 and architecturally it belonged to the Ustrinum which was 25m north of it on the same orientation. It was surmounted by a statue of Antoninus Pius. Previous to the 18th century the base was completely buried, but the lower part of the shaft projected about 6m above the ground. In 1703, when some buildings were demolished in the area of Montecitorio, the rest of the column and the base were discovered and excavated. The base still survives and is now housed in the Cortile della Pigna in the Vatican Museums.*Alex
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Italy, Rome, The Column of FocasThe Column of Phocas at Rome was erected before the Rostra and dedicated to the Emperor on 1 August 608. It was the last addition made to the Forum Romanum. The Corinthian column has a height of 13.6 m (44 ft). Both the column and the marble socle were recycled from earlier use. It still stands in its original location. An English translation of the inscription follows: To the best, most clement and pious ruler, our lord Phocas the perpetual emperor, crowned by God, the forever august triumphator, did Smaragdus, former praepositus sacri palatii and patricius and Exarch of Italy, devoted to His Clemency for the innumerable benefactions of His Piousness and for the peace acquired for Italy and its freedom preserved, this statue of His Majesty, blinking from the splendor of gold here on this tallest column for his eternal glory erect and dedicate, on the first day of the month of August, in the eleventh indiction in the fifth year after the consulate of His Piousness. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Column_of_Phocas. Image released to public domain.Joe Sermarini
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Italy, Sicily, View of Solanto from the ruins of Soluntum (aka Solus, Solous, and Kefra)View of Solanto from the ruins of Soluntum (aka Solus, Solous, and Kefra), Sicily
Solus (or Soluntum, near modern Solanto) was an ancient city on the north coast of Sicily, one of the three chief Phoenician settlements on the island, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Panormus (modern Palermo). It lay 183 meters (600 ft) above sea level, on the southeast side of Monte Catalfano 373 meters (1,225 ft), in a naturally strong situation, and commanding a fine view. The date of its founding is unknown. Solus was one of the few colonies that the Phoenicians retained when they withdrew to the northwest corner of the island before the advance of the Greek colonies in Sicily. Together with Panormus and Motya, it allied with the Carthaginians. In 396 B.C. Dionysius took the city but it probably soon broke away again to Carthage and was usually part of their dominions on the island. In 307 B.C. it was given to the soldiers and mercenaries of Agathocles, who had made peace with the Carthage when abandoned by their leader in Africa. During the First Punic War it was still subject to Carthage, and it was not until after the fall of Panormus that Soluntum also opened its gates to the Romans. It continued to under Roman dominion as a municipal town, but apparently one of no great importance, as its name is only slightly and occasionally mentioned by Cicero. But it is still noticed both by Pliny and Ptolemy, as well as at a later period by the Itineraries. Its destruction probably dates from the time of the Saracens.
Excavations have brought to light considerable remains of the ancient town, belonging entirely to the Roman period, and a good deal still remains unexplored. The traces of two ancient roads, paved with large blocks of stone, which led up to the city, may still be followed, and the whole summit of Monte Catalfano is covered with fragments of ancient walls and foundations of buildings. Among these may be traced the remains of two temples, of which some capitals and portions of friezes, have been discovered. An archaic oriental Artemis sitting between a lion and a panther, found here, is in the museum at Palermo, with other antiquities from this site. An inscription, erected by the citizens in honor of Fulvia Plautilla, the wife of Caracalla, was found there in 1857. With the exception of the winding road by which the town was approached on the south, the streets, despite the unevenness of the ground, which in places is so steep that steps have to be introduced, are laid out regularly, running from east to west and from north to south, and intersecting at right angles. They are as a rule paved with slabs of stone. The houses were constructed of rough walling, which was afterwards plastered over; the natural rock is often used for the lower part of the walls. One of the largest of them, with a peristyle, was in 1911, though wrongly, called the gymnasium. Near the top of the town are some cisterns cut in the rock, and at the summit is a larger house than usual, with mosaic pavements and paintings on its walls. Several sepulchres also have been found.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soluntum
Photo by Allie Caulfield from Germany.Joe Sermarini
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Italy- Rome- Circus Maximo seen from outside 1Circus Maximus
The Circus Maximus is an ancient arena and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy.
Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills the location was first utilised for public games and entertainment by the Etruscan kings of Rome. Certainly, the first games of the Ludi Romani (Roman Games) were staged on the location by Tarquinius Priscus, the first Etruscan ruler of Rome. Somewhat later, the Circus was the site of public games and festivals influenced by the Greeks in the 2nd century BC. Meeting the demands of the Roman citizenry for mass public entertainment on a lavish scale, Julius Caesar expanded the Circus around 50 BC, after which the track measured approximately 600 metres in length, 225 metres in breadth and could accommodate an estimated 150,000 seated spectators (many more, perhaps an equal number again, could view the games by standing, crowding and lining the adjoining hills). Later, Titus Flavius built the Arch of Titus above the closed end, on the Forum Romanum, while the emperor Domitian connected his new palace on the Palatine to the Circus in order that he could more easily view the races. The emperor Trajan later added another 5000 seats and expanded the emperor's seating in order to increase his public visibility during the games.
The most important event at the Circus was chariot racing. The track could hold 12 chariots, and the two sides of the track were separated by a raised median termed the spina. Statues of various gods were set up on the spina, and Augustus erected an Egyptian obelisk on it as well. At either end of the spina was a turning post, the meta, around which chariots made dangerous turns at speed. One end of the track extended further back than the other, to allow the chariots to line up to begin the race. Here there were starting gates, or carceres, which staggered the chariots so that each travelled the same distance to the first turn.
Very little now remains of the Circus, except for the now grass-covered racing track and the spina. Some of the starting gates remain, but most of the seating has disappeared, the materials no doubt employed for building other structures in medieval Rome. This obelisk was removed in the 16th century by Pope Sixtus V and placed in the Piazza del Popolo. Excavation of the site began in the 19th century, followed by a partial restoration, but there are yet to be any truly comprehensive excavations conducted within its grounds.
The Circus Maximus retained the honour of being the first and largest circus in Rome, but it was not the only example: other Roman circuses included the Circus Flaminius (in which the Ludi Plebeii were held) and the Circus of Maxentius.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and Temple of the Castors remainsThe Temple of the Castors was dedicated by Postumius to the Dioscuri, demigods who, according to legend, appeared on the Roman Forum to announce the victory of the Romans over the Tarquins in 494 B.C. The temple was erected by Postumius' son on January 27, 484 B.C. The temple underwent many transformations throughout the centuries. At one point, Tiberius dedicated it with the names of him and his brother Druso. There is some dispute over the origins of the remains of the temple. Some think the three columns are from restorations by Trajan, while others hold that they are from restorations by Tiberius.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and the temple of CastorsTemple of the Castors
The Temple of the Castors was dedicated by Postumius to the Dioscuri, demigods who, according to legend, appeared on the Roman Forum to announce the victory of the Romans over the Tarquins in 494 B.C. The temple was erected by Postumius' son on January 27, 484 B.C. The temple underwent many transformations throughout the centuries. At one point, Tiberius dedicated it with the names of him and his brother Druso. There is some dispute over the origins of the remains of the temple. Some think the three columns are from restorations by Trajan, while others hold that they are from restorations by Tiberius.
Peter Wissing
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